The co-founders of Samourai Wallet have been indicted for allegedly offering their cryptocurrency mixer service as a way to launder criminal proceeds. United States prosecutors alleged that the two co-founders developed a cryptocurrency mining service called Samourai Wallet that processed $2 billion worth of illegal transactions. Each co-founder faces charges of money laundering without a money transfer license. There is a maximum prison sentence of 20 years for money laundering.

According to a press release from the Press Office of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, Samourai Wallet’s CEO Keonne Rodriguez and its co-founder, technology director William Lonergan Hill, were arrested on April 24, 2024. While Rodriguez was captured in the United States, Hill was arrested in Portugal. The press release states that the United States will request Hill’s extradition.

Additionally, authorities seized Samourai’s domain name and servers after a garnishment order was issued on the Google Play Store. The app is no longer available for download in the United States. The Samourai mobile app had been downloaded more than 100,000 times before the seizure. Between 2015 and 2024, Rodriguez and Hill developed and launched Samourai, which features two features: a cryptocurrency mixer called Whirlpool and a service called Ricochet.

Both features helped conceal the source of criminal proceeds and served as a “safe haven” for criminals seeking to launder money, prosecutors alleged. Prosecutors also alleged that the defendants “suspected that a significant portion of the funds processed by Samourai were criminal money passed through Samourai for the purpose of concealment, and they did so knowingly.”

Through Whirlpool and Ricochet, Samourai reportedly processed $2 billion worth of illegal transactions and laundered $100 million in criminal proceeds from illicit dark web markets.

Additionally, through tweets and private messages, Rodriguez and Hill allegedly “encouraged and openly invited” criminals to launder criminal money using Samourai. The press release states that executives earned $4.5 million in fees from Whirlpool and Ricochet.

Rodriguez and Hill were charged with two counts, each carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years and 5 years in prison: conspiracy to launder money and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transfer service.

According to the statement of FBI Deputy Director James Smith:

“Threat actors are using technology to evade detection by law enforcement and create environments conducive to criminal activity. Keonne Rodriguez and William Hill allegedly operated a mobile cryptocurrency mixing platform for almost 10 years that provided other criminals with a virtual haven for the covert transfer of illicit funds.” being done.”

The US government is continuing its crackdown on cryptocurrency mixers thought to be used to launder money by notorious criminal organizations such as the Lazarus Group. In March, federal prosecutors won a victory against Roman Sterlingov, the operator of cryptocurrency mixer Bitcoin Fog. Sterlingov was found guilty of crimes related to money laundering.

Other cryptocurrency mixers such as Tornado Cash and Blender.io have previously been sanctioned by the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). Executives of the former organization are accused of laundering over $1 billion.