Tether, the firm behind the world's biggest stablecoin USDT, has requested the removal of Roche Freedman from a case following allegations of illicit and unethical practices being used at the law firm.

According to a Reuters report Thursday, Kyle Roche, the founding partner at Roche Freedman, withdrew from a number of class actions against various firms, including Tether which was accused of rigging cryptocurrency markets, following allegations by CryptoLeaks.

CryptoLeaks is an anonymous entity used by individuals to leak insights into crypto firms regarding their practices.

Roche, known for suing big companies and firms in crypto, has also withdrawn from a case against Binance U.S., the U.S. arm of the crypto exchange Binance, over the collapse of stablecoin Terra USD (UST).

Recently, CryptoLeaks revealed in a post that Roche Freedman received millions from Ava Labs in common stocks and AVAX tokens. In turn, the law firm kept Ava Labs out of trouble from the SEC by filing lawsuits against big fishes in the crypto industry while also obtaining inside information regarding the technology and infrastructure of these crypto platforms. The inside information was then leaked to Ava Labs.

In withdrawal requests, the founding partner at Roche Freedman stated that he is "no longer involved" in the law firm's class action practice.

However, Tether still requested the removal of Roche Freedman from the case of U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla despite Kyle Roche's filing for withdrawal, claiming that the latter's removal won't eliminate the conflict.

"Even if he is no longer counsel of record, he would still have access to discovery materials, would retain the ability to direct the conduct of other lawyers at his firm and would profit from any potential recovery in this lawsuit," the company said in a letter.

On the other hand, the investors who filed the lawsuit against Tether are currently being represented by Selendy Gay Elsberg and Schneider Wallace Cottrell Konecky.

Smartphone with Tether logo is placed on displayed U.S. dollars in this illustration taken, May 12, 2022.
Smartphone with Tether logo is placed on displayed U.S. dollars in this illustration taken, May 12, 2022. Reuters / DADO RUVIC