In a significant development, Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill, founders and CEO of privacy-focused Bitcoin wallet and mixer, Samourai Wallet, have been arrested and charged with money laundering and running an unlicensed money transfer business. US Department of Justice (DOJ), Southern District of New York, Announce These charges are made today after an extensive investigation into their activities.
Just in: 🇺🇸 The US Department of Justice arrests Shabi’a #Bitcoin MIXER SAMOURAI WALLET FOUNDER AND CEO CHARGED WITH MONEY LAUNDERING pic.twitter.com/8qyMBGRBjL
– Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) April 24, 2024
The charges stem from allegations that Rodriguez and Hill, through their company Samourai Wallet, facilitated more than $2 billion in illegal transactions and laundered more than $100 million in criminal proceeds. The DOJ stated that this activity primarily involved transactions from illegal dark web markets, as well as schemes to defraud decentralized finance protocols. The Department of Justice accuses the defendants of developing, marketing, and operating a mixture of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies that provided a platform for criminals to engage in large-scale money laundering.
“$2 billion in transactions with an unlicensed money transmitter means that $2 billion flowed without any oversight, from anyone to anywhere. “Because of the company’s disregard for regulation, Samourai Wallet allegedly laundered more than $100 million in criminal proceeds,” “Special Agents with IRS:CI New York and IRS:CI LA's Cyber Units worked with our federal and international law enforcement partners to not only capture the founders and CEO,” said Thomas Fattorosso, Special Agent in Charge at IRS-CI. Their scope. Samourai Wallet is now closed for business.
Coordinated efforts by law enforcement agencies led to the arrests of Rodriguez and Hill. Rodriguez was arrested in the Western District of Pennsylvania, while Hill was arrested in Portugal on U.S. criminal charges. The United States plans to request Hill's extradition to stand trial in the country.
“As alleged, Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill are responsible for developing, marketing, and operating Samourai, a cryptocurrency mixing service that carried out over $2 billion in illicit transactions and served as a haven for criminals to engage in large-scale money laundering.” said U.S. Attorney Damien Williams. “Rodriguez and Hill are alleged to have knowingly facilitated the laundering of more than $100 million in criminal proceeds from Silk Road, Hydra Market, and a host of other hacking and computer fraud campaigns. We, along with our law enforcement partners, will continue to relentlessly pursue and dismantle these campaigns.” Criminal organizations that use cryptocurrencies to hide illicit behavior.
Furthermore, in cooperation with authorities in Iceland, Samourai's web servers and domain were confiscated, as well as a forfeiture warrant served on the Google Play Store for the Samourai Wallet mobile application. This action ensures that the application is no longer available for download in the United States.
“Threat actors use technology to evade law enforcement detection and create environments conducive to criminal activity,” concluded James Smith, FBI Assistant Director in Charge. “For nearly 10 years, Keyon Rodriguez and William Hill allegedly ran a coin mixing platform.” Portable encryption that provided other criminals with a virtual haven for the secret exchange of illicit funds, facilitating over $2 billion in illegal transactions, and laundering $100 million in dark web funds. The FBI is committed to exposing secret financial schemes and ensuring that no one can hide Behind a curtain to perpetuate financial violations.
