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The U.S. Department of Justice has indicted the founders of Samourai Wallet, Keonne Rodriguez, and William Lonergan Hill, on charges of operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business and laundering over $100 million through illicit transactions.
DOJ Indicts Samourai Wallet Founders for Allegedly Operating $100 Million Crypto Laundering Ring
According to the indictment unsealed by the Southern District of New York, Rodriguez and Hill developed and marketed Samourai Wallet as a cryptocurrency mixer, processing over $2 billion in transactions without regulatory oversight. This service allegedly enabled large-scale money laundering involving proceeds from dark web markets and various cybercrimes. U.S. Attorney Damian Williams emphasized the commitment of law enforcement to pursue and dismantle networks that exploit cryptocurrencies for illegal activities.
“As alleged, Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill are responsible for developing, marketing, and operating Samourai, a cryptocurrency mixing service that executed over $2 billion in unlawful transactions and served as a haven for criminals to engage in large-scale money laundering,” Williams stated.
The U.S. Attorney added:
Rodriguez and Hill allegedly knowingly facilitated the laundering of over $100 million of criminal proceeds from the Silk Road, Hydra Market, and a host of other computer hacking and fraud campaigns. Together with our law enforcement partners, we will continue to relentlessly pursue and dismantle criminal organizations that use cryptocurrency to hide illicit conduct.
In coordination with international law enforcement, actions were taken to seize Samourai Wallet’s web servers and restrict access to its mobile applications, effectively shutting down the operation. Samourai Wallet has been removed from the Google Play Store. Special agents from the IRS and the FBI highlighted the extensive work undertaken to trace the illegal flow of funds, underscoring the increasing focus on enforcement of financial regulations in the digital currency space these days.
Data on Wednesday shows that as of 3:36 p.m. EDT, Samourai held 10,899.72 BTC in unspent capacity. This total includes the amount of bitcoin available in the Whirlpool system, encompassing both cycled and pre-mix coins.
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