samouraiwallet

Сооснователи криптокошелька Samourai Wallet Кеонн Родригес и Уильям Лонерган Хилл «неоднократно подстрекали, поощряли и призывали преступников» использовать их платформу для сокрытия незаконных средств. Об этом заявили прокуроры США в меморандуме о приговоре. 
Представители властей утверждают, что обвиняемые намеренно создали и продвигали криптомиксер в криминальных кругах для получения личной выгоды. 
Служба пробации рекомендовала 42 месяца тюремного заключения для каждого подсудимого, но обвинение добивается максимально возможного пятилетнего срока. 
Заседание по оглашению меры наказания запланировано на 6 ноября. 
В правительственном документе приводится ссылка на переписку в WhatsApp от 2018 года, в которой Родригес назвал перемешивание криптовалют «отмыванием денег». В 2020 и 2023 годах Хилл якобы продвигал Samourai на даркнет-форумах, утверждая, что проект «очистит грязный биткоины» и сделает их «неотслеживаемыми».
В X-аккаунте Samourai Wallet приветствуют «новых русских олигархов». Источник: судебные документы.
По подсчетам прокуроров, ответчики получили более $6,3 млн в виде комиссий за транзакции в кошельке. Средства получали в биткоине, поэтому сумма может быть выше на сегодняшний день из-за роста курса.
В июле разработчики Samourai Wallet признали вину в сговоре с целью осуществления деятельности по переводу денег без разрешения с использованием незаконных средств. 
Взамен прокуроры сняли три других серьезных обвинения: в сговоре с целью отмывания денег, в сговоре с целью нарушения санкций и в нарушении федерального лицензирования.
#SamouraiWallet #Wallet #Write2Earn
$BTC

U.S. federal prosecutors are seeking maximum sentences for the founders of Samourai Wallet, who have admitted to running an unlicensed money transmission business and facilitating the laundering of hundreds of millions of dollars in illicit funds.

Samourai Founders Under Fire
Founders William Lonergan Hill and Keonne Rodriguez have pleaded guilty in a case that has become a symbol of the clash between privacy and regulation in crypto. According to U.S. prosecutors, the pair actively promoted their wallet to criminals on the darknet, fully aware that it was being used to conceal illegal transactions.
Documents filed with the Southern District of New York describe how the duo “repeatedly encouraged and invited criminals” to use Samourai Wallet, turning the platform into a “safe haven for money laundering and sanctions evasion.”
Evidence cited by prosecutors includes a 2018 WhatsApp message in which Rodriguez described the wallet’s mixing feature as “money laundering for Bitcoin.” Hill allegedly promoted the Whirlpool service on darknet forums, claiming it could help users “clean dirty BTC” and make their transactions “untraceable.”

Over $6 Million in Fees
Investigators say Samourai Wallet earned more than $6.3 million (roughly 246 BTC) in fees from its mixing services between 2015 and 2024. With Bitcoin’s surge in value, those coins are now worth around $27 million.
Prosecutors allege that these funds were tied to drug trafficking, cyberattacks, child exploitation materials, murder-for-hire schemes, and other illicit activities. Both founders, they claim, knew exactly how their tools were being used by criminals.

Prosecutors Seek Maximum Sentence
Federal prosecutors are urging the court to impose the full five-year sentence for conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmission business under 18 USC § 371.

The probation office has recommended a lighter punishment — 42 months in prison each — but the final decision rests with the judge.
Sentencing is scheduled for November 6 for Rodriguez and November 7 for Hill in the Southern District of New York.

How It All Began
U.S. authorities shut down Samourai Wallet in April 2024, accusing it of facilitating unlicensed money transfers and helping criminals launder illicit proceeds through its privacy features.
Rodriguez was arrested in the United States, while Hill was detained in Portugal and later extradited to face trial in the U.S. Both men pleaded guilty in July 2025, setting the stage for this week’s sentencing.
The Samourai Wallet case has become a landmark in the ongoing debate over where privacy ends and criminal conduct begins. The upcoming verdict is expected to shape how U.S. regulators approach developers of privacy wallets and crypto mixers going forward.


#bitcoin , #Cryptolaw , #crypto , #Regulation , #SamouraiWallet

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