Roman Storm, co-creator and developer of crypto “mixer” company Tornado Cash, was arrested by U.S. authorities in Washington state Wednesday after he and his business partner were charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Storm and Roman Semenov, a Russian national, allegedly facilitated more than $1 billion in money laundering transactions, including hundreds of millions of dollars for the sanctioned North Korean cybercrime organization Lazarus Group, according to a press release from the Justice Department.
They were also charged with conspiracy to commit sanctions violations and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business.
Crypto mixers are used to conceal the origin of crypto transactions.
“While publicly claiming to offer a technically sophisticated privacy service, Storm and Semenov in fact knew that they were helping hackers and fraudsters conceal the fruits of their crimes,” U.S Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement.
Storm, who is 34 years old and lives in Auburn, Wash., will appear in federal court in Seattle on Wednesday.
