US prosecutors in the criminal case against Tornado Cash co-founder and developer Roman Storm offered testimony from an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agent as they prepare to rest their case on Thursday.
According to reporting from Inner City Press on Wednesday, IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent Stephan George testified he had reviewed transaction records connected to cryptocurrency exchanges Crypto.com and Binance.
George reportedly said that Storm “[had] control” over funds after an account connected to Binance sent crypto to Tornado Cash smart contract addresses, based on communications between the co-founders: Storm, Alexey Pertsey and Roman Semenov.
The testimony followed a challenge from Storm’s attorneys, which sought to exclude it based on a review of Hanfeng Lin’s experience — a victim of a romance scam who testified earlier in the trial about stolen crypto funds sent through Tornado Cash. Storm’s lawyers suggested that they may move for a mistrial after research suggested none of the funds went to the crypto mixing service.
“While his accounting background might have provided him the expertise to conduct the analysis he was retained to do, it does not qualify him to testify regarding the tracing of cryptocurrency criminal proceeds which the government is now proposing, which includes not only tracing but also attributing control over various wallet addresses to the alleged hacker, where the identification of accounts is at issue,” said Storm’s legal team in a Tuesday filing.
The issue of whether Storm had the ability to control Tornado Cash by blocking or disincentivizing illicit funds from being laundered, as the prosecution alleges, is central to the arguments in his criminal case.
Another government witness was expected to testify as to whether Storm could have modified the platform to deter criminal activity, but reportedly mainly discussed the mixer’s behavior in response to sanctions.
Related: What you need to know about Roman Storm’s Tornado Cash trial
Defense lawyers prepare to present their case
Storm faces charges of money laundering, conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitter and conspiracy to violate US sanctions related to his role at Tornado Cash. US prosecutors said they expected to wrap up their case on Thursday “before lunch,” after which time Storm’s attorneys will begin to present their defense.
According to Inner City Press, Storm’s lawyers plan to call “two or three doctors” to testify, and possibly an expert witness from Chainalysis.
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