Samourai Wallet Masterminds Face 25 Years in Prison for Money Laundering and Unlicensed Transactions

The days of anonymity for operators of coin mixing services are numbered, as evidenced by the recent arrests and convictions of key figures in the industry. The U.S. Department of Justice has charged Samourai Wallet co-founders with money laundering and operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business, while the operator of the Bitcoin Fog mixer has been convicted of similar offenses. In the Netherlands, the trial of Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev is underway, with prosecutors seeking a 64-month sentence for his role in facilitating the laundering of over $1 billion worth of Ethereum. The crackdown on mixers is a global effort, with authorities in the U.S., Europe, and elsewhere taking action against services that enable criminals to obfuscate the trail of their illicit transactions.

Samourai Wallet Masterminds Face Prison Terms for Unlicensed Money Transmission and Money Laundering

The curtain has fallen on the purportedly anonymous operators behind Samourai Wallet, an unscrupulous coin mixing service designed to obscure the digital footprints of illicit transactions. Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill, the co-founders of this shadowy enterprise, now stand accused of conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business, facing a combined prison sentence of up to 25 years.

The indictment against Samourai lays bare its brazen disregard for anti-money laundering protocols and the "know your customer" standard. This gross negligence enabled the facilitation of "over $2 billion in unlawful transactions," a staggering sum that highlights the chilling impact of such illicit activities.

Samourai's services were particularly sought after by those seeking to launder ill-gotten gains from dark web marketplaces like Silk Road and Hydra Market. The disturbing revelation that Samourai processed "more than $100 million in money laundering transactions" from these shadowy corners of the internet exposes its complicity in the dark underbelly of cyberspace.

But Samourai's transgressions did not end there. It also enabled the laundering of proceeds from web-server intrusions, spear-phishing scams, and schemes designed to defraud decentralized finance protocols. The sheer scale of Samourai's illicit activities is mind-boggling, with its operators reportedly raking in around $4.4 million in fees from users eager to hide their digital trails from law enforcement.

Rodriguez's arrest within the United States and Hill's detention in Portugal, pending extradition, serve as a stark warning that attempting to evade justice by seeking refuge overseas is a futile endeavor. The long arm of the law will reach even those who believe themselves immune from prosecution.

Law enforcement agencies have seized Samourai's servers with the invaluable assistance of Icelandic authorities. Its dot-com domains have also been taken down, while Google Play has ceased downloads of the Samourai app for American users.

Unlike many other coin mixers that operate on the Ethereum blockchain, Samourai catered specifically to those seeking to conceal the digital breadcrumbs left behind by their Bitcoin transactions. Its "Whirlpool" service, marketed as a means to keep "your identity masked," was recently upgraded to further enhance its anonymization capabilities.

Samourai also offered a "Ricochet" feature designed to confound transaction blacklists and protect users from "unjust 3rd party account closures." Such audacious language was typical of the Samourai crew's brash and provocative demeanor.

In March 2022, Hill cavalierly dismissed a Financial Times article citing a Europol assessment that coin mixers posed a "top threat," mockingly tweeting, "Do you see us shitting in our pants?" The answer, as we now know, is an emphatic yes.

Hill's hubris extended to welcoming Russian oligarchs as Samourai Wallet users following the imposition of economic sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. His confrontational stance, resembling the defiant bravado of Avraham Eisenberg, proved ill-advised, as both men now face the harsh reality of prison time for their reckless actions.

Rodriguez and Hill's legal challenges have been further compounded by the recent conviction of Roman Sterlingov, the Swedish-Russian operator of the Bitcoin Fog mixer. Sterlingov's guilty verdict on charges of money laundering conspiracy, operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, and violating the District of Columbia Money Transmitters Act sent shockwaves through the crypto community.

Sterlingov operated Bitcoin Fog from 2011 until his arrest in April 2021, overseeing the longest-running mixer in crypto history. During its operation, Bitcoin Fog processed "well over" 1.2 million BTC, worth nearly $400 million at the time.

According to the DoJ's press release following Sterlingov's conviction, the majority of these Bitcoins originated from darknet marketplaces and were tied to "illegal narcotics, computer fraud and abuse activities, and identity theft." His service also catered to purveyors of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) through the notorious site Welcome to Video.

U.S. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco delivered a stern warning to those operating cryptocurrency services that reach the United States: "No matter where you operate, if your service reaches the United States, you must abide by U.S. law."

Ilya Lichtenstein, who pleaded guilty last year to the 2016 hack of the Bitfinex exchange, testified at Sterlingov's trial that Bitcoin Fog was one of the mixers he and his partner Heather 'Razzlekhan' Morgan used to launder their ill-gotten gains. However, Lichtenstein claimed that he later switched to other mixers that better suited his needs.

The global crackdown on coin mixing services continues unabated, with the ongoing prosecution of the individuals behind the Ethereum-based Tornado Cash mixer. Developer Alexey Pertsev, who was arrested in the Netherlands in August 2022, faces charges of laundering $1.2 billion in ETH between July 2019 and the time of his arrest.

Pertsev, a Russian national allegedly linked to Russian intelligence services, pleaded not guilty to the charges. His trial in the Netherlands was conducted over two days, with prosecutors seeking a 64-month sentence. The verdict is expected on May 14.

While Pertsev expressed disappointment that criminals and rogue regimes like North Korea had embraced Tornado Cash, he claimed that he was merely responsible for writing the code and had no control over who used it. To attribute blame to him for the malicious activities enabled by his software, he argued, would be "unfair."

Just prior to the filing of Storm's motion to dismiss the charges, blockchain analysts Elliptic reported that North Korea's infamous Lazarus Group hackers had employed Tornado Cash to launder over $100 million worth of tokens stolen from the HTX (formerly Huobi) exchange and its HECO cross-chain bridge. The timing of this illicit operation, beginning on March 13, raises significant concerns about the role of Tornado Cash in facilitating state-sponsored cybercrime.

The Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has further solidified the government's stance against coin mixers by formally designating them as "a class of transactions of primary money laundering concern." This declaration followed a plea from a bipartisan group of over 100 U.S. federal legislators to develop plans to prevent the use of crypto for terrorist financing after attacks on Israel by the Hamas terror group.

Despite the Treasury Department's decisive action, a group of Ethereum users attempted to challenge the federal government's sanctions against Tornado Cash. Their appeal, however, was dismissed by the U.S. Fifth Circuit.

The United States is not alone in its efforts to combat coin mixing services. European authorities played a significant role in last year's takedowns of ChipMixer and Sinbad, while the U.K.'s National Crime Agency has issued a stark warning to mixers to comply with money laundering laws or face the consequences.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has alerted Americans not to use "cryptocurrency money transmitting services that are not registered as Money Services Businesses (MSB) according to United States federal law and do not adhere to anti-money laundering requirements." The FBI's pointed reference to recent actions against unauthorized 'crypto' services underscores the government's unwavering commitment to protecting the financial system from illicit activities.

Law enforcement agencies worldwide will continue to target such businesses until they learn to abide by the law. The choice is clear: compliance with the law or a prison cell.