Tornado Cash Co-Founder’s Defense Seeks Dismissal of Legal Proceedings

Lawyers for Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm plan to file a motion to dismiss the legal proceedings. This was reported by Inner City Press.

The defense argues that witness testimonies are not directly related to the charges against their client. Storm’s lawyers challenged the testimony of witness Hanfeng Li, who claimed to have lost about $250,000 to fraudsters in 2021. The criminals convinced her to transfer bitcoins to a fake trading platform with promises of high returns.

To recover her funds, Lin turned to the Payback service. Its representatives claimed that part of the stolen funds went through Tornado Cash. Storm’s lawyer pointed out the lack of evidence.

During cross-examination, FBI expert Joseph DeCapua admitted he had not actually verified the witness’s transactions. Prosecutors promised to call IRS analyst Stefan George to confirm the link between Lin’s funds and Tornado Cash.

Federal Judge Katherine Polk Failla criticized the organization of the process during the Tornado Cash case hearing.

“I participate in many criminal cases, but I have never seen such a mess in communication between the parties,” quoted the judge in Inner City Press.

If Storm’s defense motion is granted, the proceedings may end. Otherwise, the case will be retried with a different judge and jury due to an error.

Cryptocommunity Investigation

Blockchain detectives have decided to conduct their own investigation. MetaMask’s lead security researcher Taylor Monahan noted that she analyzed Lin’s transactions and saw no connection to the crypto mixer.

This first witness in Roman’s trial immediately caught my attention bc the victim was a classic Pig Butchering case.

The only issue is….uh…..those scammers don’t use Tornado Cash? And they never have?

So, like, wtf? https://t.co/27MlcXvc0z

— Tay 💖 (@tayvano_) July 18, 2025

“The authorities never flagged the addresses where she sent $250,000 as linked to thefts or illegal operations. They didn’t freeze the funds, let alone return them. […] I don’t understand what the Payback team was tracking. There’s no Tornado Cash,” she wrote.

On-chain sleuth ZachXBT joined Monahan’s conclusions and criticized Payback’s work.

The trial of Storm, one of the creators of Tornado Cash, began on July 14. At that time, he announced a critical lack of funds for his defense and launched an urgent appeal to raise $1.5 million.

Back in August, the crypto mixer’s co-founder was charged with conspiracy to launder money, violating US sanctions, and operating an unlicensed business. He faces up to 45 years in prison.