It would be different if they had actually been in direct communication with oligarchs, which is not the case.
The indictment documents against Samourai state that “KEONNE RODRIGUEZ and WILLIAM LONERGAN HILL, the defendants,
owned, controlled, managed, and supervised Samourai, which was engaged in the business of transferring funds on behalf of the public." That is not how Whirlpool works but prosecutors are counting on jurors being too ignorant to understand that a non-custodial service does not meet the definition of a money transmitting business.
Right on all points cited (and more)
And the recent revelations that even FinCen said beforehand that they weren't a money transmitter is - or at least should be - a big problem for the prosecution.
I think this topic needs a full, dedicated thread. There's quite a few important pieces in this case that aren't in the thread. Like them or not, if this case is successful we're in a bad spot