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US arrest crypto wallet founders over alleged $2bn illegal money flow
U.S. authorities have apprehended Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill, the founders of Samourai Wallet, on charges of laundering more than $100 million.
The U.S. Department of Justice issued a press statement on April 24, detailing the indictment against Rodriguez and Hill for conspiracy to commit money laundering and operating an unlicensed money transmitter through the crypto-mixing platform Samourai.
Rodriguez was arrested within the United States, while Hill was apprehended in Portugal and is set to be extradited for trial.
If found guilty, Rodriguez could face a sentence of up to 20 years, while Hill faces a maximum of five years.
Additionally, the authorities seized Samourai Wallet’s website, hosted in Iceland, and petitioned the Google Play Store to remove the application.
The charges stem from allegations that Rodriguez and Hill facilitated more than $2 billion in unlawful transactions through the Samourai protocol, collecting over $4.5 million in processing fees since 2015.
The DOJ claims that the platform was marketed as a tool for censorship resistance and participation in the black/grey circular economy, providing a haven for illicit activities.
Evidence cited by authorities includes private messages and social media posts attributed to Hill, suggesting that the creators of Samourai were aware of criminal usage of the platform and, in some instances, encouraged it.
These arrests mark another step in the ongoing crackdown on crypto mixers, which are believed to be utilized by threat actors, including North Korea’s Lazarus Group, to evade detection and impede law enforcement efforts.
Notably, federal prosecutors recently secured a conviction against Bitcoin Fog founder Roman Sterlingov for facilitating over $400 million in illegal drug sales.
The DOJ is also pursuing cases against Tornado Cash developers Roman Storm and Roman Semenov, while other crypto mixers like Blender and Sinbad have faced sanctions in a broader effort to combat illicit financial activities in the cryptocurrency space.