Hackers who stole $50 million from “next-gen stablecoin neobank” Infini earlier this year are actively using Tornado Cash to launder millions, even as the US trial against the crypto mixer and its founder, Roman Storm, continues to unfold.
Roughly $10 million worth of ether (ETH) stolen from Infini was sent to Tornado Cash today, while over 1,700 ETH was swapped for roughly 5.9 million DAI.
It’s another example of cybercriminals laundering their funds with the crypto mixer built with privacy in mind. One hacker behind a separate $12 million exploit sent some of the stolen funds to Storm’s legal funds, a donation he had to reject.
Read more: US gov’t weaponised evidence against Tornado Cash, report
The trial against Storm has entered its fourth day as US prosecutors try to convince a jury, some of whom have already broken into tears, that he’s guilty of conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to violate economic sanctions.
In today’s session, Inner City Press reported that an FBI forensics accountant was questioned over legal expenses, an FBI special agent was questioned about a raid on Storm’s home, and a neon Tornado Cash sign was turned on in court.
One witness claimed a hard drive found at Storm’s property described “cleaning” Ethereum alongside a picture of a washing machine, both references to money laundering.
A Telegram message, which the defense claimed should be dismissed as evidence, was also questioned.
Read more: US prosecutors say Tornado Cash witnesses will ‘waste jury time’
Prosecutors have already quizzed various witnesses who have suffered hacks, thefts, and the like, who also saw their crypto moved through Tornado Cash.
This included a convicted NFT rug-puller and the CTO of Axie Infinity, which was hacked for $600 million.
Storm’s opening statements tried to convey to the jury the idea of your every financial transaction being broadcast to the public and the dangers of lacking financial privacy.
The Rage reports that prosecutors didn’t take this well and requested a motion that seeks to prevent his team from discussing financial privacy and the spate of crypto kidnappings that could be linked to a lack of it.
It claimed testimony on these kidnappings, and other criminal acts, “is not the purview of expert testimony, is inflammatory, and calls for jury nullification.”
