US federal prosecutors have rebutted claims they suppressed evidence in their case against the co-founders of the crypto mixing service Samourai Wallet, arguing their disclosure of a conversation with Treasury Department staff was made within the required timeframes. In a May 9 letter to a Manhattan federal court, prosecutors opposed a request for a hearing, claiming they handed over “all known substantive communications” between them and the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) regarding Samourai “months in advance of pretrial motions and trial.”“The defendants will have seven months to make use of the information before trial,” they wrote.“Nothing more is warranted.”On May 5, Samourai co-founders Keonne Rodriguez and William Hill asked the court for a hearing, claiming that prosecutors were late to disclose that FinCEN representatives told them six months before they charged the pair that under the agency’s guidance, the service “would not qualify as a ‘Money Services Business’ requiring a FinCEN license.”However, prosecutors still charged the pair in February 2024 with conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business and money laundering conspiracy, unsealing the charges and arresting the pair in April that year.
FinCEN “did not have a sense” of broaching SamouraiThe prosecutor’s letter noted that an email from one of the prosecutors summarizing the August 2023 call with FinCEN said that because Samourai doesn’t take custody of the crypto, it “would strongly suggest that Samourai is NOT acting as an MSB [money services business].”However, it noted FinCEN staff “did not have a sense of what FinCEN would decide if this question were presented to their FinCEN policy committee.”An excerpt of an email from prosecutor Andrew Chan said FinCEN “did not have a sense” of what it would decide on Samourai.
A highlighted excerpt of the prosecutors’ letter arguing that they disclosed a discussion with FinCEN on time and the discussion was an “informal conversation.” Source: PACERThey claimed O’Connor and Valente’s comments were “their individual, informal, and caveated opinion” on whether Samourai would need to register as a money transmitter under FinCEN regulations.
or
Share This Story
Article Details
Author / Journalist: Cointelegraph by Jesse Coghlan
The story "Feds deny late disclosure of evidence in Samourai Wallet case" has 524 words across 16 sentences, which will take approximately 3 - 5 minutes for the average person to read.
Which news outlet covered this story?
The story "Feds deny late disclosure of evidence in Samourai Wallet case" was covered 13 hours ago by Coin Telegraph, a news publisher based in United States.
How trustworthy is 'Coin Telegraph' news outlet?
Coin Telegraph is a fully independent (privately-owned) news outlet established in 2013 that covers mostly crypto news.
The outlet is headquartered in United States and publishes an average of 22 news stories per day.
It's most recent story was published 7 hours ago.
What do people currently think of this news story?
The sentiment for this story is currently Negative, indicating that people regard this as "bad news".
How do I report this news for inaccuracy?
You can report an inaccurate news publication to us via our contact page. Please also include the news #ID number and the URL to this story.
