Tornado Cash cryptocurrency mixer developer Alexey Pertsev will remain in prison pending an appeal of his conviction in a $1.2 billion money laundering case, reports DLNews.
This decision was made by the Court of Appeal in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands.
Pertsev’s lawyers argued that there was no flight risk and that he needed internet access to prepare for the proceedings.
On May 14, a Dutch court found Pertsev guilty of laundering $1.2 billion through the mixer and sentenced him to 64 months in prison. Since then, the developer has been in custody.
In August 2022, the OFAC blacklisted Tornado Cash for its involvement in laundering over $7 billion in illicit funds. Pertsev was arrested that same month. In April 2023, the court changed his pre-trial measure to house arrest.
Co-founders of Tornado Cash, Roman Storm and Roman Semenov, also face charges of money laundering and sanctions violations in the US.
The former was released on bail and refused to plead guilty. Storm is awaiting trial in September. Semenov remains free but has come under sanctions.