The US Department of Justice went to $ 7.74 million in Crypto, which allegedly earned by IT employees from North Korea using false identities and work in Blockchain as remote contractors.

The funds were initially frozen in April 2023 as part of the accusation against SIM Hyon Sop, a Chinese banker allegedly helping IT employees of North Korea in money laundering, he said In a statement on June 5.

The Department of Justice wants to take over many cryptocurrencies, including Stablecouins and Bitcoin (BTC) in various quantities, along with the domains of not filthy services and the names of Ethereum, which are stored in many self -gone portfolios and binance accounts, according to his civic complaint. filed June 5 at the Federal Court in Washington.

Matthew Galeotti, head of the criminal department of the Department of Justice, said that the matter emphasizes how the North Korean government is trying to operate the “cryptocurrency ecosystem to finance its illegal priorities.”

“The Department will use every legal tool at its disposal to secure the cryptocurrency ecosystem and refuse North Korea of ​​its improper benefits of violation of sanctions in the US,” he said.

The state claimed that IT employees from North Korea, who gained crypto, were lively in many countries and used false identification documents and other darkening strategies to obtain employment.

Employees allegedly laundered not bad profits

After paying, often in Stablecoin, such as USDC (USDC) and Tether (USDT), IT employees allegedly used laundry techniques, including jumping chain and tokening tokens into NFT to cover the origin of the funds.

The Department of Justice alleged that the funds were to be sent back to the North Korean Government through SIM and Kim Sang Man, another North Korean sanctioned by Ofac for crimes regarding money laundering.

In recent years, North Korea has increased its efforts to infiltrate the cryptocurrency industry and collecting funds to send Hermit to the kingdom.

The Google Threats Intelligence Group has published a April report describing North Korea extending infiltration operations to Blockchain companies outside the US after increasing the control of the authorities on the part of the authorities, with significant emphasis on Europe.

Related: G7 Summit can discuss the cryptographic hacks of North Korea: Report

Meanwhile, Blockchain Investigators Zachxbt said that in August last year he discovered evidence of a sophisticated network of developers from North Korea, who earn up to 500,000 USD per month, working for “established” cryptocurrency projects.

In 2022, the Department of State and the State Treasury released A joint advisory warning about the influx of North Korea employees to various independent technological tasks, especially cryptography.

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