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Comment by game-of-throws | Hacker News Reader

If that were true, it would be so easy for them to swing public opinion in their favor by saying so.

Headline: Arrest of developer with suspected ties to North Korean money laundering

Body: He has also previously contributed to Tornado Cash.

But all we know is what they decided to tell us... he's a developer of privacy tech. If the facts change, I'll change my mind.

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Usually when there’s an ongoing investigation the default is for police to not release too much information to avoid jeopardising the investigation, then release all the info when the investigation is complete. It’s frustrating and often a principle that’s applied too broadly, but I do understand the reasoning behind it.

I agree they usually withhold details of the case. But I don't think they would flat-out lie about the charges being brought.

> I agree they usually withhold details of the case. But I don't think they would flat-out lie about the charges being brought.

“With suspected ties to X“ isn't necessarily an element of the charges being brought. And the police can and do lie (or state “suspicion” on a very flimsy basis) when making public announcements related to arrests, and headlines often credulously repeat police spin rather than being grounded in facts.

While this tends to get the most attention (and still then not enough for the press to change) around police spin and media coverage related to police shootings, it is true far beyond that.

> But I don't think they would flat-out lie about the charges being brought.

I dunno, there's a pretty big trend going on right now of producing tv shows / prodcasts about how ineffective (with a strong hint of incompentence) cops can be.

In the US, government agents absolutely can and do lie during the course of an investigation. This is why you should never ever talk to the police.

There have been a series of previous stories about North Korean state hackers using it to launder proceeds from known hacks.

This didn’t happen with no lead up or context

Why are we not targeting the hackers instead of privacy advocates?

Should we arrest the Tor developers because North Koreans use Tor?

Quite hard to target hackers inside a hostile country like NK.

Hard to pursue the perpetrator does not justify pursuing someone else.

Did you read the article? It starts:

“On Wednesday 10 August, the FIOD arrested a 29-year-old man in Amsterdam. He is suspected of involvement in concealing criminal financial flows and facilitating money laundering through the mixing of cryptocurrencies through the decentralised Ethereum mixing service Tornado Cash”

So the suspicion is that he didn’t only develop the tool, but was involved in its illegal use, too.

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