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 couple of month.
In keeping with reporting from Internal 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 tip of subsequent week, resulting in the Twister Money co-founder’s legal professionals calling their very own witnesses.
Storm stated he anticipated the trial to final “3-4 weeks on account of complicated 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 workers, together with a forensic accountant and a particular agent who searched Storm’s dwelling close to Seattle.
Storm faces fees of cash laundering, conspiracy to function an unlicensed cash transmitter and conspiracy to violate US sanctions associated to his position on the crypto mixing service, which he based with Alexey Pertsev and Roman Semenov in 2019. He may serve years in jail if discovered responsible on all counts.
Associated: What you want to learn about Roman Storm’s Twister Money trial
What’s going to Roman Storm’s protection seem like?
Following the prosecution’s expectation to shut its case by July 25, Storm’s attorneys have already supplied indications of what they are going to current in court docket as a protection technique. Earlier than the trial started, Storm stated in an interview that he wasn’t certain whether or not his authorized group would have him take the stand in his protection.
In a Thursday submitting, Storm’s legal professionals advised that not less than certainly one of their witnesses may provide testimony that included references to high-profile kidnappings of crypto customers, as proof that privateness companies like Twister Money had been essential.
“The truth that there have been quite a few high-profile incidents of criminals in search of to acquire people’ cryptocurrency doesn’t in any means counsel that the jury ought to acquit Mr. Storm out of sympathy for the victims of those crimes,” stated his authorized group. “Once more, one of many key causes for cryptocurrency privateness is to guard its customers from criminals preying on them.”
The prosecution is in search of 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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