Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev will remain in jail for at least three more months. This decision came after the Netherlands court found that releasing Pertsev might pose a flight risk. For the first time, Dutch public prosecutor Martine Boerlage introduced money-laundering allegations during the hearing on Tuesday.
Pertsev was caught and sent to prison in August after the US Treasury made claims against Tornado Cash. According to the Treasury, the blockchain facilitated money laundering in digital assets. Furthermore, they allegedly helped North Korean hackers and siphon fund North Korea’s Nuclear Program.
What Is Happening to Alexey Pertsev
The Dutch prosecutor declared that it is a case of money laundering. Currently, she did not make any remark on anything other than a press release. However, she is indicting Pertsev for assisting questionable money movement on Tornado Cash. Boerlage further dismissed the claims that Tornado Cash is a decentralized system. She doubts that Pertsev has no control over his own platform. In her opinion, Pertsev and Tornado Storm owns so many tokens that they can easily outvote everyone else.
In an interview outside of the court, Pertsev’s lawyer Keith Cheng voiced his disappointment. He stated that he is upset with the court’s ruling. “We attempted to clarify the defense’s positions as plainly as possible. However, it is clear that the judges are not familiar with the subject as they should be.”
At the moment, the first session is rescheduled to February 20, 2023. Chang reaffirmed his conviction that the state is biased towards Pertsev and Tornado Cash. He will investigate and prepare adequately for the upcoming court session. Pertsev said that he is willing to accept all restrictions for bail. All he wanted was to go to church with his family. Unfortunately, the court denied his request. This arrest is creating widespread outrage. The community is protesting in Amsterdam and online. Edward Snowden also took to Twitter and share his opinion. He stated that giant fraudster like SBF roams free after scamming billion of dollars. Instead, someone who builds privacy tools for the public is arrested instead. The only difference is one is a big political donor and the other is not.
Closing Thoughts
We do not arrest the founder of banks for money laundering in the bank. However, we arrest the founder of a crypto platform for the same reason. That seems a bit unfair. Hopefully, the court can come to a sound ruling for this case. In the meantime, check out our MEXC trading page and find out what we have to offer! You can learn more about crypto industry news and interesting articles to get you up to speed with the crypto world. Happy trading!
