- Alexey Pertsev will remain in custody for at least three more months
- He is being held although no charges have formally been pressed
Alexey Pertsev, the developer of Tornado Cash, will remain in jail in the Netherlands until the next hearing of his trial, Crypto Daily reported. He was arrested by Dutch authorities after the US declared sanctions against the privacy mixer.
Alexey Pertsev will remain in custody for at least three more months, with the next hearing scheduled for April 21. He has been charged with money laundering of exceptionally high amounts. The pretrial review will take place on May 24.
Authorities: The developer might flee
According to the judge panel, the Russian developer might try to conceal evidence or flee if he’s out on bail. Pertsev denies all charges against him.
US accused Tornado Cash of helping hackers
US authorities allege that Tornado Cash was facilitating money laundering by hackers and other malicious entities, including a hacker organization that the FBI believes is connected to North Korea. The open-source mixer lets users pool their crypto funds, advocating privacy and concealing the inflow and outflow of assets.
$7B reportedly laundered through privacy mixer
The FBI alleges that Tornado Cash laundered a total of $7 billion. This is counting the $455 million stolen by Lazarus Group, who are infamously linked to North Korea.
Despite the absence of formal charges, Pertsev has been detained for multiple periods spanning 110 days each. In the Netherlands, authorities are allowed to hold accused persons without pressing charges formally.
The court has rejected three appeals by Pertsev, the latest at the end of last year.
Growing community support for the developer
Online support for Pertsev has been growing considerably, with blockchain users and other developers posting links to a page calling for his release. More than 5,000 people have signed a Change.org petition in support of the Tornado Cash developer.
His detention provoked vocal protests from the crypto community and Edward Snowden. Crypto users and privacy advocates are very critical of US sanctions.
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