6 days ago
New York prosecutors are seemingly considering whether oregon not to driblet their lawsuit against Samourai Wallet co-founders Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill, according to a Monday tribunal filing.
In a associated missive to District Judge Richard Berman of the Southern District of New York (SDNY), some prosecutors and lawyers for Rodriguez and Hill requested that the lawsuit beryllium granted a 16-day continuance, oregon extension, “while the Government determines its position” successful effect to the defense’s petition that the lawsuit beryllium dismissed nether the auspices of U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s recent memo to the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) staff.
In his April 7 memo, Blanche announced that the DOJ’s crypto unit, the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET) would beryllium disbanded, and instructed unit to nary longer bring cases against crypto exchanges, mixing services, oregon offline wallets “for the acts of their extremity users oregon unwitting violations of regulations.”
Blanche ordered immoderate ongoing investigations inconsistent with this caller argumentation to beryllium closed, and said that his bureau would enactment with the DOJ’s transgression part to “review ongoing cases for consistency with this policy.”
Read more: DOJ Axes Crypto Unit arsenic Trump’s Regulatory Pullback Continues
Three days aft Blanche’s memo, lawyers for Hill and Rodriguez sent a missive to SDNY prosecutors “requesting the dismissal of the superseding indictment nether the Blanche Memo," according to Monday's filing On April 24, the parties met to sermon the request.
Last April, Rodriguez and Hill were charged with conspiracy to perpetrate wealth laundering and conspiracy to run an unlicensed wealth transmitting business. The charges transportation a maximum condemnation of 20 years and 5 years, respectively. Prosecutors said Samourai Wallet had facilitated astir $2 cardinal successful “unlawful transactions” betwixt 2015 and 2024, with the brace collecting a combined $4.5 cardinal successful fees.
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