Treasury Designates Roman Semenov

Treasury's OFAC sanctioned Roman Semenov, a co-founder of the Tornado Cash virtual currency mixer, for providing material support to Tornado Cash and the Lazarus Group, a North Korean state-sponsored hacking group. The sanctions were coordinated with a DOJ indictment that charged Semenov and fellow co-founder Roman Storm with conspiracy to commit money laundering, operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, and sanctions violations. Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo said the founders continued to promote the service after learning the Lazarus Group was laundering stolen funds through it. The Lazarus Group used Tornado Cash to launder over $455 million stolen in the March 2022 Ronin bridge attack.