The U.S. Department of Justice has rejected Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm’s motion to dismiss criminal charges against him

The U.S. Department of Justice on Friday rejected a motion by Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm to dismiss criminal charges against him, saying documents submitted by the defendant raised controversial facts that the jury should weigh. It is reported that the U.S. Department of Justice accused Storm and his colleague Roman Semenov of conspiracy to launder money, conspiracy to operate an unlicensed remittance agency, and conspiracy to violate sanctions laws by creating and operating Tornado Cash. U.S. authorities allege that the North Korean hacker group Lazarus Group and other criminal entities laundered money through Tornado Cash. (CoinDesk) Earlier in March, Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm had filed a motion seeking to dismiss all three charges against himself, including accusations that he operated a money laundering business and violated the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Roman Storm's lawyers said Tornado Cash was developed and publicly available before it was used by hacker groups sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department. Therefore, Storm had little ability to prevent sanctioned entities from using Tornado Cash when the alleged misconduct occurred.