The legal team representing Roman Storm, one of the creators of Tornado Cash, has indicated to a judge that they might request a trial cancellation due to a witness they believe is irrelevant to the proceedings.
This issue came up in a Manhattan courtroom on July 21, before US District Judge Katherine Polk Failla, according to coverage from Inner City Press.
The concern stems from testimony given by government witness Hanfeng Lin. Lin stated that she lost $190,000 in a cryptocurrency fraud that originated on WhatsApp.
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According to her testimony, an online contact persuaded her to purchase Bitcoin
However, David Patton, Storm’s attorney, informed the court that their own investigation did not reveal any connection between Lin’s cryptocurrency and the Tornado Cash service. He mentioned consulting with Storm about the possibility of requesting a mistrial.
The defense also cross-examined FBI agent Joseph DeCapua, who had previously detailed how cryptocurrency from illicit sources was routed through Tornado Cash.
When questioned whether he had investigated Lin’s transactions, he confirmed that he hadn’t. Patton highlighted that this was unexpected, as the defense assumed DeCapua would establish the link between Lin’s losses and the platform.
In response, the prosecution announced its intention to call IRS analyst Stephan George to testify that Lin’s funds indeed transited through Tornado Cash.
Prosecutors alleged on July 15th that Tornado Cash facilitated North Korea’s laundering of $600 million stemming from the 2022 Ronin hack. What was the reaction of Storm’s defense team? Get the complete details.
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