Roman Storm was found guilty only of running an unlicensed money-service business (MSB) in New York this week, avoiding the far heavier money-laundering and sanctions charges a hung jury left undecided. Meanwhile, in the Netherlands, fellow Tornado Cash coder Alexey Pertsev is already serving 64 months for money-laundering. Yet the Dutch executives of high-risk processor Payvision—who, according to Dutch Central Bank (DNB) files, knowingly washed hundreds of millions for cyber-crime kingpins—escaped with nothing more than modest administrative fines. Why does a coder who “should have known” his software could be misused go to jail, while bankers who did know their clients were criminal walk free?
Read on report on the US conviction of Roman Storm here.
Quick Facts
| Case | Jurisdiction | Main Charge | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roman Storm | U.S. (SDNY) | Conspiracy to operate unlicensed MSB | Guilty — faces up to 5 yrs; mistrial on AML & sanctions (Sources: Wall Street Journal, CoinDesk) |
| Alexey Pertsev | Netherlands | Money-laundering €1.2 bn via Tornado Cash | Guilty — 64 months prison (Source: CoinDesk). |
| Payvision Execs (Rudolf Booker & Gijs op de Weegh) | Netherlands | Systematic money-laundering for Lenhoff & Barak scams | No trial — fines €150k/€180k each (Sources:vixio.com,fintelegram.com) |
What We Learned This Week
- Split Verdict in New York – Storm convicted on the narrow MSB count; jury deadlocked on the billion-dollar AML narrative tied to North Korea’s Lazarus Group (Source: WIRED).
- Dutch Court Throws the Book at Pertsev – Judges said he “should have foreseen abuse” and imposed >5 years behind bars (Source: CoinDesk).
- Dutch Prosecutors Tap the Brakes for Payvision – Despite DNB’s 2020 criminal referral and 273 SARs showing Payvision knew its clients were crooks, only minor fines were issued; no prison, no courtroom (Sources: fintelegram.com, news.bloomberglaw.com).
- Big-Bank Halo Effect? – Payvision was bought by ING for €360 m in 2018, months before ING itself paid a record €775 m AML settlement; cases against then-CEO Ralph Hamers were later dropped (Sources: ing.com,Reuters)
- “Payvision on Crypto” – Former COO Gijs op de Weeg now runs euro-stablecoin issuer StablR with the same team—no mention of Payvision’s laundering legacy appears in StablR’s white-paper (Sources: fintelegram.com+1)
Deep Dive: A Tale of Two Standards
Developers = Scapegoats?
U.S. and Dutch prosecutors frame Tornado Cash coders as wilful facilitators because they wrote the code. Yet the SDNY jury balked at laundering and sanctions intent, convicting Storm only on a licensing technicality. Dutch judges went the opposite route, asserting Pertsev’s mere deployment of non-custodial smart contracts sufficed for mens rea.
“The management of Tornado Cash welcomed bank-robbers with open arms,” the Dutch verdict declares. WIRED
Bankers = Untouchables?
Read our reports on Payvision here.
Payvision’s own emails, SARs and DNB exam findings reveal that executives knew high-risk cybercrime masterminds Lenhoff and Barak were defrauding investors—and kept processing anyway, tweaking fee models to cash in.
Yet:
- The Public Prosecutor levied two six-figure fines—a fraction of Payvision’s scam revenues. (Source: vixio.com)
- No public court proceedings; no custodial sentences.
- ING’s 2018 AML scandal cost €775 m, but its CEO walked away cleared (Sources: Reuters)
Judicial Optics
The Dutch judiciary appears to grade misconduct on a curve: 66 months for a coder who “should have known,” versus zero jail for bankers who admitted knowledge. The message to FinTech C-suites—get big enough, be bought by a systemic bank, and prison risk melts away.
The StablR Spin-Off
Gijs op de Weegh has reinvented himself as CEO of stable-coin issuer StablR, pitching MiCA-compliant EURR tokens while partnering with ex-Payvision staff. FinTelegram finds no disclosure of Payvision’s AML history in StablR’s public papers—potentially a MiCA Article 14 violation for “misleading omissions” (Sources: fintelegram.com,due-diligence-hub.com)
Read our reports on StablR here.
Questions Dutch Prosecutors Must Answer
- Why no custodial charges against Payvision directors when DNB evidence shows knowledge & intent?
- Was ING’s strategic purchase of Payvision—and subsequent lobbying—determinative in the lenient outcome?
- How can devs be liable for “should have known” while licensed MSBs with actual knowledge escape jail?
- Will StablR’s licence survive once regulators review its executives’ Payvision past?
What Happens Next
- Storm Sentencing – Judge Failla will fix prison term; DOJ may retry hung counts. Cointelegraph
- Pertsev Appeal – Dutch appellate hearing set for Q4 2025. The Record from Recorded Future
- Payvision Fallout – Victim suits and EFRI pressure mount; EU Parliament members call for inquiry into prosecutorial discretion. fintelegram.com
- StablR Scrutiny – Malta’s MFSA reviewing licence after FinTelegram disclosures. fintelegram.com
Take-Away for Regulators
Code is being criminalised, but compliance lapses by licensed institutions still get the “administrative fine” treatment. Until banker liability matches developer liability, AML enforcement risks becoming a theatre of optics, not deterrence.
Call to Action
Were you inside Payvision, ING, or the Tornado Cash investigations? Send documents, SARs or whistle-blower tips securely via our whistleblower platform, Whistle42.
