According to BlockBeats on July 22, The Block reported that the lawyer for Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm is considering filing for a mistrial due to their doubts about the evidence submitted by the government. The defense pointed out that a 'pig butchering' scam victim summoned by the prosecution may have never used this privacy-focused cryptocurrency mixing tool.
As the Storm trial enters its second week, its defense attorney David Patton opposed the witness's claim that the stolen cryptocurrency was laundered through Tornado Cash. Witness Hanfeng Ling had previously testified that she fell victim to a 'pig butchering' scam in 2021 and stated that a 'cryptocurrency recovery service' she used told her that part of the funds flowed into Tornado Cash.
However, over the past weekend, Storm's lawyer stated that they could not trace Ling's funds entering Tornado Cash. Ethereum security expert Taylor Monahan posted on the X platform (formerly Twitter) over the weekend, stating that scammers would not use Tornado Cash at all.
In a series of posts, Monahan elaborated on why she believes the funds never passed through Tornado Cash. 'Based on the on-chain tracking I did beforehand, I knew long ago that her funds did not flow into Tornado,' Monahan said, 'I have no idea what they are tracking. There is simply no Tornado Cash.'
