Dutch Indictment Alleges Twister Money Developer’s Involvement in $1.2B Laundering Case

Twister Money developer Alexey Pertsev has been accused of laundering $1.2 billion of illicit funds by the OFAC-sanctioned platform, as per the most recent report.

Since his arrest in August 2022, Pertsev has dismissed the allegations of breaching cash laundering legal guidelines.

• The most recent indictment from the Netherlands claims that Pertsev was concerned in cash laundering on Twister Money, referring to over 30 transactions performed on the platform that had been deemed unlawful.
• Amongst these transactions, the Dutch prosecutors additionally flagged one involving 175 ETH allegedly linked to the Ronin Bridge hack, in accordance with DL Information.
• Pertsev is at the moment awaiting trial within the Netherlands, which is scheduled for March 26, on fees associated to cash laundering and extra monetary offenses.
• Twister Money was as soon as the highest crypto coin mixing platform, permitting customers to transact anonymously.
• Nonetheless, in 2022, the Division of the Treasury’s Workplace of International Belongings Management (OFAC) prohibited US residents from utilizing the service, claiming that it had facilitated the laundering of over $7 billion in crypto.
• This included $455 million suspected to have been pilfered in 2022 by the Lazarus Group, a infamous hacking entity linked to the North Korean authorities.
• Along with Pertsev, one other Twister Money developer, Roman Storm, was accused of laundering greater than $1 billion in illicit proceeds shortly thereafter.
• Whereas privateness advocates denounced OFAC’s transfer, each people later received public assist from Edward Snowden, the previous NSA whistleblower.
• In keeping with Chainalysis’ stats, the platform suffered a 93% decline in month-to-month money inflows post-sanctions in comparison with pre-sanctions averages.