Feds Cracks Down On Bitcoin Mixer Samourai Wallet
On Wednesday, authorities in the United States arrested and charged the creators of a Bitcoin tool called Samourai Wallet. They're accused of working together to do illegal money activities.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New York, Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill ran a tool that mixed Bitcoin, doing over $2 billion in illegal deals and helping move more than $100 million from illegal websites.
IRS-CI Special Agent in Charge Thomas Fattorusso said: “$2 billion in transactions with an unlicensed money transmitter means $2 billion flowed without any oversight, from whomever to wherever. Because of the company’s disregard for regulation, it’s alleged that Samourai Wallet laundered more than $100 million in criminal proceeds. Special Agents with IRS:CI New York and IRS:CI LA’s Cyber units worked with our federal and international law enforcement partners to not only arrest the founders and CEO, but to also seize their domain. Samourai Wallet is now closed for business.”
The FBI Assistant Director in Charge James Smith said, "Threat actors utilize technology to evade law enforcement detection and create environments conducive to criminal activity. For almost 10 years, Keonne Rodriguez and William Hill allegedly operated a mobile cryptocurrency mixing platform which provided other criminals a virtual haven for the clandestine exchange of illicit funds, the facilitation of more than $2 billion in illegal transactions, and $100 million in dark web money laundering."
To put it simply Samourai is a non-custodial app for storing Bitcoin privately. It's also a tool for mixing coins, which can make it hard to follow where the money goes.
Fans of the of service expressed their disappointment regarding the law enforcement action on social media, including Edward Snowden. He said, "The Department of 'Justice' has once again criminalized the developers of an app that restores financial privacy. The way to fix this it to make money private by default. Privacy must never be 'exceptional,' or they will make it criminal."
This is not the first time US Government cracking down on Coin Mixing services. In 2022, Tornado Cash, another tool like Samourai, was banned claiming criminals were using it to launder money. Several people associated with the Service was arrested.
Press Release: Founders And CEO Of Cryptocurrency Mixing Service Arrested And Charged With Money Laundering And Unlicensed Money Transmitting Offenses
