Roman Storm Granted Delay of Tornado Cash Trial, Alexey Pertsev Denied Bail by Dutch Court
A judge has granted a delay in the trial of Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm in the United States. Meanwhile, in Europe, fellow Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev must prepare for his appeal in prison after a Dutch court denied his bail request.
- United States District Judge Katherine Polk Failla of the Southern District of New York granted a defense request to delay the criminal trial of Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm.
- The trial, originally scheduled for September of this year, will now be delayed until early December.
- Tornado Cash developers Roman Storm, Roman Semenov, and Alexey Pertsev have been charged with criminal money laundering for creating and managing the service, despite its decentralized nature and the lack of communication between the developers and allegedly criminal users.
In stark contrast, the Court of Appeal of ‘s-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands denied the release of Alexey Pertsev, who was convicted of money laundering in May, and is currently preparing for his appeal.
- Pertsev's defense lawyers, Keith Cheng and Judith de Boer, argued that Pertsev would not be a flight risk and needs access to a computer and the internet to prepare for his appeal trial.
- "The court says that continuing his detention does not obstruct his possibility to prepare his defense," Cheng told DL News.
- Cheng added that he requested digital facilities including a good computer, unlimited internet access, specialized software, and external data carriers, but the prison rejected this due to safety policies. Despite presenting the prison's rejection to the court, the request was denied.
"This kind of preparation cannot be done by a lawyer. We need [Pertsev] because he laid down the foundation on the technical aspects of his case and he knows how to explain certain things," said Cheng.
- "This unprecedented case addresses when a software developer can be criminally liable for third-party misuse. That’s why Pertsev must be free to await and prepare for the appeal — which will benefit the entire legal system," added Pertsev's lawyers.
On May 14, a three-judge Dutch court sentenced the 31-year-old Russian national to a 64-month prison term for allegedly laundering $2.2 billion in stolen and hacked funds through the non-custodial Tornado Cash mixer.
- Pertsev's lawyers previously said that his detention violates the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees the right to a fair trial.
