Tornado Cash dev Alexey Pertsev denied bail in money laundering case

On Friday, a Dutch court refused to release Alexey Pertsev, the Tornado Cash developer convicted of money laundering in May, as he prepared to appeal. The Court of Appeal in’s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, ordered that Pertsev will be arrested, according to a representative.

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Keith Cheng and Judith de Boer, Pertsev’s defense lawyers, argued that he is not a flight risk and requires computer and internet access to prepare for his appeal trial.

Keith Cheng reported, “The court says that continuing his detention does not obstruct his possibility to prepare his defense.” But the attorneys disagree.

In a case involving such fundamental legal questions, pre-trial detention is unacceptable […] this unprecedented case addresses when a software developer can be criminally liable for third-party misuse.

Judith de Boer,

That is why Pertsev should be allowed to await and prepare for the appeal, “which will benefit the entire legal system.”

During a hearing last month, Cheng stated that he offered 18 points of preparation for his appeal, including the requirement that Pertsev have access to a computer to process the request.

Nonetheless, Cheng was surprised when his appeal to free Pertsev from custody was denied. He had already made a request with the prison where Pertsev is housed, which was also denied.

“I put a request to the prison warden and asking for the digital facilities, and which includes to have a good computer, unlimited access to internet, the use of specialised software, and to have external data carriers,” Cheng told the DL News.

However, the computer and facilities could not be granted since they violated the jail safety policy, according to the defence lawyer. He added that he took the prison’s rejection to the court but had no success.

Cheng previously stated that Pertsev’s incarceration breaches the European Convention on Human Rights, which outlines an individual’s entitlement to a fair trial.

Pertsev was arrested in Amsterdam in August 2022 on suspicion of using the Ethereum decentralized mixing service to hide illegal funds and aid in money laundering. 

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A Dutch judge at the Court of Appeal’s-Hertogenbosch found the 31-year-old Russian developer guilty of his role in the construction of Tornado Cash in May of this year and sentenced him to 64 months in prison.