On Aug. 8, 2022, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed economic sanctions on Tornado Cash, a popular cryptocurrency mixing service that allows customers to obscure the original source of virtual currency transactions by “mixing” multiple transactions and then redistributing them. While mixing may have legitimate benefits in some transactions,
Kyle R. Freeny
Kyle R. Freeny, a skilled trial attorney and former federal prosecutor for the Special Counsel’s Office and the Department of Justice (DOJ), Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section (MLARS), focuses her practice on white collar criminal defense, government and internal investigations, and anti-money laundering (AML) and international corruption matters.
Kyle was one of 19 prosecutors selected by Robert S. Mueller III to conduct the high-profile investigation into alleged Russian election interference, coordination between Russian officials and the Trump campaign, and related matters. As Assistant Special Counsel, Kyle played a lead role in federal tax and bank fraud investigations, as well as a money laundering investigation into the funding of Russian intelligence cyber intrusions during the 2016 Presidential election using cryptocurrency.
While at the Department of Justice, Kyle was involved in investigations relating to major international money laundering and corruption matters, including matters involving the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), and foreign banking and corruption laws designated as predicates to U.S. money laundering charges. Kyle has considerable experience handling cross-border issues and coordinating with foreign law enforcement authorities and U.S. and foreign regulators on complex transnational financial cases.
Kyle has also represented dozens of federal agencies in high-profile litigation, including the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the Department of Defense, and the Federal Financing Bank. Kyle has appeared before federal trial courts across the country.
‡ Admitted in California. Practice in the District of Columbia limited to matters and proceedings before Federal courts and Agencies.
Ransomware and Sanctions in the Time of War – Article and Presentation
In this article, we discuss today’s most prevalent types of ransomware attacks, considerations for whether to make the ransom payment, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control’s (OFAC) ransomware guidance, and the U.S. government’s efforts in connection with these attacks.
DOJ Limits Application of Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, Providing Clarity for Ethical Hackers and Employees Paying Bills at Work Alike
On May 19, 2022, the Department of Justice announced it would not charge good-faith hackers who expose weaknesses in computer systems with violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA or Act), 18 U.S.C. § 1030. Congress enacted the CFAA in 1986 to promote computer privacy and cybersecurity and amended the Act several times, most…