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- Roman Storm’s protection attorneys bask in sought to block testimony from an alleged North Korean hacker within the Twister Money case
- They’ve argued that the testimony is irrelevant and prejudicial to co-founder Roman Storm’s trial
- Prosecutors bask in maintained that the hacker’s statements are key to exhibiting Twister Money became once knowingly veteran to launder illicit funds
Attorneys representing Twister Money co-founder Roman Storm bask in filed a motion to exclude testimony from an alleged North Korean hacker tied to the Lazarus Neighborhood. The protection contends the authorities’s proposed explore has no bid connection to Storm and that their statements would unfairly bias the jury, nevertheless prosecutors suppose the testimony illustrates that Storm became once conscious the crypto mixer facilitated money laundering by sanctioned entities. Provided that right here’s a core facet of the prosecution’s case, the testimony from the form of central explore also can point to pivotal.
Relevance vs. Prejudice
In court filings this week, Storm’s felony crew referred to as on the reflect to strike any references to a hacker interview conducted by the FBI, citing hearsay and shortage of bid ties to the defendant. The actual individual in search recordsdata from, who stays unnamed, allegedly admitted that Lazarus Neighborhood veteran Twister Money to obfuscate stolen crypto, nevertheless Storm’s attorneys argue that introducing such evidence would “create an emotional response quite than a factual foundation for guilt,” at the side of that “The authorities is attempting to conflate the alleged actions of a foreign actor with the intent of a U.S. system developer.” They also argued that Storm did now not talk with the hacker, had no feature in enabling the exercise, and that the protocol operated autonomously.
Federal prosecutors bask in countered that the testimony goes to the center of the case: whether Storm knew Twister Money became once veteran for illicit finance. According to the authorities, the explore confirmed that Twister Money became once “the tool of preference” for Lazarus after the $625 million Axie Infinity hack, and prosecutors argue that this establishes a pattern of exercise that Storm and his co-founders allegedly overlooked or enabled no matter public warnings. They judge the testimony reveals Twister Money became once no longer right a neutral privateness tool nevertheless had change into integral to evading U.S. sanctions, a distinction serious to proving Storm acted “willfully” in violating federal laws.
Primary Pretrial Dedication Looms
The reflect has no longer but ruled on the motion, nevertheless the also can form the trajectory of Storm’s upcoming trial. The protection’s technique hinges on portraying Twister Money as delivery-source code previous Storm’s control, while prosecutors map to put he maintained control and intent. As the felony struggle intensifies, the search recordsdata from looms: when does writing code inaccurate the freeway into criminal conspiracy?
