Prosecutors in the case against the developer of Tornado Cash, Roman Storm, try to circumvent the possibility that a New York judge forces them to give additional evidence that could help the case of Storm.
In a letter from Wednesday to the court, the prosecutors postponed the claims of the Storm lawyers according to which they had not respected their so -called Brady obligations – a constitutional requirement for prosecutors to submit any potentially useful evidence to the defense before the trial.
At the heart of the debate is a recent production of evidence in another case in the South New York District (SDNY): the legal pursuit of the co -founders of Samurai Wallet Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan. Both cases involve a crypto mixture which, according to prosecutors, has been knowingly used to whiten the crime product,
In the case of the Samurai portfolio, however, prosecutors recently admitted to having had a conversation with two officials of the financial network of crimes (Fincen) in 2023 – before complaining – in which government employees said that they did not think that the mixing service would be considered a money transmission company under their directives and did not need a license to operate. Lawyers from Rodriguez and Hill accused prosecutors to delete critical evidence and violate their right to regular procedure. Last week, the judge supervising the case rejected his request for hearing on the issue, telling them to include their concerns in their prior request at the end of the month.
Although business is distinct, the lawyers of Roman Storm said they were concerned about the fact that the fact that the accusation does not inform them of their communications with Fincen concerning the status of Wallet samurai as a money transmission company also potentially constituted a violation of Brady in the case of Storm.
In their response on Wednesday, the prosecutors said that Fincen’s conversation was not proof. Prosecutors also said that their discussion with Fincen was not relevant to the case of Storm, because it was not specifically torade in cash.
“Tornado cash was just not part of the conversation,” the prosecutors wrote. “While Samurai Wallet and Tornado’s cash service can share certain superficial similarities, they worked very differently.”
The prosecutors said they hadn’t had similar conversations with Fincen on the Tornado trees, saying that there were “no such interactions comparable to those described in the disclosure of Rodriguez”.
“As the government has repeatedly explained the defense in this case, the government has neither asked or obtained an opinion from an employee of Fincen – or any other government agency – concerning if the Tornado cash service is subject to registration obligations,” the prosecutors wrote. “Such an opinion – in particular an informal opinion offered by employees who expressly decline to talk about the agency – would not be legally eligible and would not constitute Brady equipment.”
The case against Storm is expected to start on July 14 in New York.
