financetom
Technology
financetom
/
Technology
/
Samourai Wallet Co-Founder Keonne Rodriguez Pleads Not Guilty, Released on $1M Bond
News World Market Environment Technology Personal Finance Politics Retail Business Economy Cryptocurrency Forex Stocks Market Commodities
Samourai Wallet Co-Founder Keonne Rodriguez Pleads Not Guilty, Released on $1M Bond
Apr 29, 2024 2:18 PM

NEW YORK — Samourai Wallet co-founder Keonne Rodriguez pleaded not guilty to two criminal charges tied to creating and marketing the privacy-focused bitcoin wallet application and mixing service in a Manhattan courtroom on Monday.

Rodriguez, 35, and his Samourai Wallet co-founder William Lonergan Hill, 65, were arrested last week – Rodriguez in Pennsylvania and Hill in Portugal – and charged with one count each of conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business. The charges carry a maximum sentence of 20 years and five years, respectively.

Prosecutors have alleged that, between 2015 and the seizure of Samourai Wallet’s servers last week, the app “facilitated more than $100 million in money laundering transactions from illegal dark web markets,” and around $2 billion total in “unlawful transactions.”

The arrests and shutdown of Samourai Wallet come as the U.S. government prepares for its case against Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm, and have led to an outcry among many in the crypto industry, who believe the case is a sign the government is attempting to criminalize financial privacy.

In the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) press release announcing the pair’s arrest last week, prosecutors said that Rodriguez and Hill “encouraged and openly invited users to launder criminal proceeds” and considered “restricted markets” to be a target demographic.

Rodriguez was initially arrested around 6 a.m. at his home in Harmony, Penn. on April 24. He was subsequently released by a Pennsylvania judge on a $25,000 bond and ordered to present himself before a magistrate judge in the Southern District of New York (SDNY) on Monday morning.

Magistrate Judge Barbara Moses ruled to release Rodriguez on a $1 million bond on Monday, accepting the conditions set in a bail package that both federal prosecutors and Rodriguez’s lawyers – Sean Buckley and Michael Keilty of international law firm Kobre Kim – had agreed to.

Rodriguez’s bond will be secured by real estate in Pennsylvania and the signature of his wife and another family member. Other than traveling to and from court proceedings, Rodriguez will remain at home and will be monitored by location tracking technology.

Rodriguez’s next hearing will be in Manhattan on May 14 at 2 p.m. in front of District Judge Richard Berman.

Berman oversaw Mango Markets exploiter Avraham Eisenberg’s trial earlier this year.

Comments
Welcome to financetom comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Related Articles >
Analysis-Apple antitrust suit mirrors strategy that beat Microsoft, but tech industry has changed
Analysis-Apple antitrust suit mirrors strategy that beat Microsoft, but tech industry has changed
Mar 22, 2024
(Reuters) - The U.S. government's antitrust lawsuit against Apple ( AAPL ) draws on the watershed 1998 case that broke Microsoft's ( MSFT ) stranglehold on desktop software, but that may prove to be an imperfect blueprint for addressing smartphone competition. The market for the iPhone today looks very different from the near-monopoly enjoyed by Microsoft's ( MSFT ) Windows...
AIOZ Network Partners With Alibaba Cloud to Boost AI, Storage and Streaming Services
AIOZ Network Partners With Alibaba Cloud to Boost AI, Storage and Streaming Services
Mar 22, 2024
The two companies will establish a DePIN alliance in south-east Asia.AIOZ's native token is currently trading flat after the announcement, it is up by more than 200% in 30 days.AIOZ Network will use Alibaba Cloud to improve Web 3, AI, storage and streaming services.Decentralized infrastructure network (DePIN) AIOZ Network has become the leading blockchain partner in Alibaba Cloud’s Innovation Accelerator...
Japan braces for life with interest rates after historic change
Japan braces for life with interest rates after historic change
Mar 21, 2024
TOKYO, March 22 (Reuters) - In the coming years, Satoaki Kanoh needs to replace almost a dozen ageing machines at his Tokyo-based maker of acrylic panels, a major undertaking that he worries will become even more expensive. Ideally, I'd like to do one a year. But I don't have that much money, Kanoh said of the customised pieces of machinery...
Japan braces for life with interest rates after historic change
Japan braces for life with interest rates after historic change
Mar 21, 2024
TOKYO (Reuters) - In the coming years, Satoaki Kanoh needs to replace almost a dozen ageing machines at his Tokyo-based maker of acrylic panels, a major undertaking that he worries will become even more expensive. Ideally, I'd like to do one a year. But I don't have that much money, Kanoh said of the customised pieces of machinery that cost...
Copyright 2023-2026 - www.financetom.com All Rights Reserved