US Attorneys in New York’s Southern District continued presenting their case towards Twister Money co-founder and developer Roman Storm, anticipated to final a few month.
Based on reporting from Inside Metropolis Press contained in the courtroom on Thursday, Assistant US Legal professional Thane Rehn stated the prosecution anticipated to shut its case towards Storm by the top of subsequent week, resulting in the Twister Money co-founder’s attorneys calling their very own witnesses.
Storm stated he anticipated the trial to final “3-4 weeks attributable to advanced authorized arguments and unexpected witnesses and proof.”
The prosecution launched its case this week by providing testimony from quite a lot of witnesses, together with people related with hackers who allegedly used Twister Money to launder funds. On Thursday, the court docket heard testimony from FBI staff, together with a forensic accountant and a particular agent who searched Storm’s house close to Seattle.
Storm faces costs of cash laundering, conspiracy to function an unlicensed cash transmitter and conspiracy to violate US sanctions associated to his function on the crypto mixing service, which he based with Alexey Pertsev and Roman Semenov in 2019. He might serve years in jail if discovered responsible on all counts.
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What is going to Roman Storm’s protection appear to be?
Following the prosecution’s expectation to shut its case by July 25, Storm’s attorneys have already provided indications of what they’ll current in court docket as a protection technique. Earlier than the trial started, Storm stated in an interview that he wasn’t positive whether or not his authorized crew would have him take the stand in his protection.
In a Thursday submitting, Storm’s attorneys urged that not less than one among their witnesses might supply testimony that included references to high-profile kidnappings of crypto customers, as proof that privateness providers like Twister Money had been obligatory.
“The truth that there have been quite a few high-profile incidents of criminals looking for to acquire people’ cryptocurrency doesn’t in any manner counsel that the jury ought to acquit Mr. Storm out of sympathy for the victims of those crimes,” stated his authorized crew. “Once more, one of many key causes for cryptocurrency privateness is to guard its customers from criminals preying on them.”
The prosecution is looking for to preclude any testimony on kidnapping and torture, however the decide overseeing the case had not issued a ruling on the time of publication.
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