As he lived in a tent and battled to provide for his family, Hussam al-Masri, a Reuters journalist killed by Israeli fire on Monday while running a live video feed at Gaza's Nasser Hospital, covered the suffering of civilians during the conflict. According to journalist colleagues, Masri, 49, was a seasoned cameraman who was well-liked by Gaza's close-knit community of reporters because of his upbeat demeanor in the most perilous circumstances. In the months before his death, he would say, "Tomorrow will be better," despite the fact that the Palestinian enclave was becoming increasingly desolate and hungry. That was the conclusion of his final discussion with Mohamed Salem, a senior Reuters visuals journalist who had collaborated with Masri in Rafah, in southern Gaza, last year and had known him since 2003. Salem, who left Gaza later in 2024 but stayed in daily contact with Masri until Monday morning, said he was a pleasure to work with because of his smiles and o...
The US jury has reached a standstill on the money laundering charge against the founder of Tornado Cash.
On charges of money laundering and evading sanctions against the founder of Tornado Cash, a company that makes cryptocurrency transactions more difficult to trace, a U.S. jury reached a deadlock on Wednesday.
Roman Storm was accused of conspiring to launder the proceeds of hacks, including those carried out by a group supported by the North Korean government, but the jury in a Manhattan federal court was unable to reach a decision. However, he was convicted by the jury of conspiring to run an unlicensed money transmission business, which is a less serious charge.
Later, U.S. District Judge Katherine Faille will sentence him to a maximum of five years in prison. Each of the conspiracy charges related to money laundering and sanctions evasion carried a potential 20-year sentence.
Storm was detained in 2023 on suspicion of assisting in the concealment of over $1 billion, including hundreds of millions of dollars for the hacking group Lazarus Group, which is backed by Pyongyang and has been placed on the U.S. Treasury's blacklist for allegedly aiding North Korea financially.
Storm, 36, had pleaded not guilty to all three felony charges he faced.
Defense attorney David Patton stated in his closing argument on July 30 following a two-week trial in Manhattan federal court that Storm's intention was not to assist in the concealment of illegal funds, despite the fact that Tornado Cash's privacy tools might have been helpful to criminals.
Patton stated, "There is nothing illegal about the software that he built." "This evidence demonstrates that Roman strongly opposed the use of Tornado Cash by hackers and scammers."
Prosecutor Benjamin Gianforti claimed that despite being repeatedly told between 2020 and 2022 that Tornado Cash was assisting criminals in concealing illicit funds, Storm continued to operate the company out of greed.
Defense attorney David Patton stated in his closing argument on July 30 following a two-week trial in Manhattan federal court that Storm's intention was not to assist in the concealment of illegal funds, despite the fact that Tornado Cash's privacy tools might have been helpful to criminals.
Patton stated, "There is nothing illegal about the software that he built." "This evidence demonstrates that Roman strongly opposed the use of Tornado Cash by hackers and scammers."
Prosecutor Benjamin Gianforti claimed that despite being repeatedly told between 2020 and 2022 that Tornado Cash was assisting criminals in concealing illicit funds, Storm continued to operate the company out of greed.
Tornado Cash's focus on user privacy, according to Gianforti, is a "cover story."
Gianforti stated, "The real money wasn't in protecting privacy for regular folks, but it was in providing privacy for big-time crypto criminals." "His best clients were hacker types."
Under the Democratic administration of then-President Joe Biden, Tornado Cash was also sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury for allegedly supporting North Korea.
Two months into Republican President Donald Trump's presidency, in March, the Treasury lifted those sanctions, claiming to have examined the policy and legal concerns brought up by the sanctions in light of "evolving technology and legal environments."
Gianforti stated, "The real money wasn't in protecting privacy for regular folks, but it was in providing privacy for big-time crypto criminals." "His best clients were hacker types."
Under the Democratic administration of then-President Joe Biden, Tornado Cash was also sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury for allegedly supporting North Korea.
Two months into Republican President Donald Trump's presidency, in March, the Treasury lifted those sanctions, claiming to have examined the policy and legal concerns brought up by the sanctions in light of "evolving technology and legal environments."
Alexey Pertsev, one of the developers of Tornado Cash, was found guilty of money laundering last year and given a five-year, four-month prison sentence in the Netherlands.
SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES