Creators of Samourai Wallet Detained for Alleged Involvement in Illicit Financial Activities

The founders of the cryptocurrency wallet service Samourai Wallet, Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill, are facing legal action over accusations of laundering in excess of $100 million.

U.S. federal authorities have indicted the creators of Samourai Wallet, Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill, on charges related to money laundering conspiracies. This move is part of a broader crackdown on cryptocurrency mixing services that are potentially exploited by criminals and international entities to obscure financial transactions.

A recent statement from the authorities revealed that the duo was responsible for creating, promoting, and managing a mixing service that reportedly processed over $100 million from illicit online marketplaces.

The statement further claimed that since its inception in 2015, Samourai Wallet has been implicated in approximately $2 billion worth of illegal transactions.

According to the charges, Rodriguez, aged 35, and Hill, aged 65, amassed around $4.5 million in service fees through their operation.

They are accused of conspiring to launder money and running an unlicensed money transmission business, with potential penalties of up to 20 years and 5 years in prison, respectively.

Rodriguez was taken into custody on Wednesday morning and is scheduled for a court appearance in Pennsylvania shortly. Hill, the Chief Technical Officer of Samourai Wallet, was also arrested in Portugal on the same day and is awaiting extradition to the United States.

In addition to the arrests, the Samourai Wallet’s website, hosted in Iceland, has been taken down, and authorities have issued a warrant to remove the Samourai mobile app from the Google Play Store.

The Department of Justice’s announcement highlighted that since 2015, Rodriguez and Hill have been actively encouraging users to use their service for laundering purposes, as evidenced by various tweets and private communications.

One such message from Hill emphasized Samourai’s commitment to a censorship-resistant economy that operates outside of mainstream adoption, predicting growth in such markets during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The duo also sought investment by promoting their service to potential users involved in the dark and grey markets.

These arrests precede the Department of Justice’s trial against Roman Storm, a developer and co-founder of the cryptocurrency mixing service Tornado Cash. The case is being handled by the Southern District of New York. In a related development, the Washington, D.C. division of the DOJ recently secured a conviction against Roman Sterlingov, who operated the Bitcoin Fog mixer, on charges of money laundering.

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