3 months later and Tornado Founder doesn’t understand his accusation News ▸ Netherlands ▸ Privacy
3 months later and Tornado Founder doesn’t understand his accusation
The Tornado Cash developer still does not fully comprehend the reason behind his arrest, in what he believes is a great abuse of process.
2 min read
Updated: Sep. 4, 2023 at 6:43 pm UTC
Cover art/illustration via CryptoSlate. Image includes combined content which may include AI-generated content.
Tornado developer Alexey Pertsev questioned his arrest in a December statement for what he believes is an abuse of process. Currently going into his fourth month in custody, a Dutch court ruled out on Nov 22 that the developer would spend some three more months under custody for further investigation.
However, It seems Pertsev has not fully grasped the basis of his case or even why he got arrested. The developer reiterated how his arrest and the ongoing proceedings broke nearly all aspects of his life, yet according to him, authorities have only shown him the legal documents but failed to explain what is going on.
Nonetheless, a preliminary court hearing that took place in the Netherlands in November outlined an overview of ongoing investigations, in which the Tornado cash founder was demonstrated as a central figure in concealing money laundering information.
The public prosecutor highlighted how Pertsev and two other co-founders run a money laundering scheme as a business and helped cyber criminals conceal information.
Pertsev’s attorney, WK Cheng was given a chance to deliver his first argument whereby he highlighted the use case of Tornado Cash. In his delivery, Cheng demystified misconceptions about the cryptocurrency mixing provider.
However, according to Pertsev’s lawyers, how the courts are handling the proceedings shows little to no knowledge of cryptocurrencies.
Pertsev is clutching on the hopes that Judges will gain more understanding of Tornado Cash and its decentralized structure as they dig deeper into the case. Unfortunately, he noted, his bailout would still come at the expense of having spent some months in custody and only seeing his wife once a week.
The clarity of Pertsev’s little to no understanding of the basis of his arrest came out in his remarks on whether he would commit a similar crime; Pertsev added he wasn’t informed of his crime when he got arrested.
