Samourai Wallet's Lawyers Accuse the Prosecution of Suppressing Critical Evidence

Lawyers for Samourai Wallet are requesting a hearing to determine whether the case should be dismissed in light of a possible Brady violation.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) informed prosecutors that, according to their guidelines, Samourai Wallet did not qualify as a money transmitting business and did not need a license to operate, as reported by CoinDesk.

This communication, which took place in August 2023, was not disclosed to the court or Samourai's lawyers until April 1, 2025, when responding to the defense's Brady request for "any information suggesting that Samourai did not require a money transmitter license or that the Defendants did not believe that it required such a license."

Samourai's lawyers expressed surprise that FinCEN would take the same position and convey it to the same prosecutors, who then proceeded to charge the defendants with a crime.

The defense attorneys also noted that the government's failure to disclose its pre-indictment consultation with FinCEN has already prejudiced Rodriguez and Hill's case.

"For instance, the fact that the regulator issuing licenses for money transmitting businesses did not believe Samourai needed one could well have impacted (i) the Magistrate Judge's view of the strength of the Government's case in making bail determinations that have confined Mr. Rodriguez to his home for nearly a year and cut both Defendants off from funds that could be used to mount their defense; and (ii) this Court's decision not to permit the Defendants to file a motion to dismiss immediately following their arraignments," the filing stated.

Last month, Samourai's lawyers asked the court to toss out the case in the context of the Blanche Memo, which directs DOJ staff to stop prosecuting regulatory violations involving crypto and to no longer pursue cases against crypto exchanges or mixers for the actions of their end users.

Prosecutors met with the defense to consider the request on April 10 and have yet to reach a conclusion. If the DOJ declines to drop charges, Samourai's lawyers will file a motion to dismiss the case on several grounds, including that the defendants were not money transmitters and could not be prosecuted for not having a license and not implementing anti-money laundering controls.

However, they argued that even if the Justice Department's interpretation of the law, and not the principal regulator's, was correct, the defendants would still be entitled to dismissal for lack of fair notice.

Instead, they have spent a year of their lives under indictment and huge portions of their life savings defending themselves against these fundamentally unfair charges.

The next hearing in the case is scheduled for July 22 at 1:00 p.m. ET.