The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a civil forfeiture complaint to seize over $7.74 million in crypto assets allegedly laundered by North Korean IT workers who posed as remote blockchain developers using fake identities.
🕵️ North Korean Workers Infiltrated Blockchain Firms
According to the DOJ’s June 5 announcement, the IT workers were part of a larger effort by North Korea to bypass U.S. sanctions and fund illicit activities. The workers allegedly:
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Used fake documents to get remote jobs at crypto and blockchain companies
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Were paid in stablecoins like USDC and USDT
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Used chain-hopping and NFT swaps to launder funds
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Sent earnings back to the North Korean government
🔒 Frozen Funds Include BTC, NFTs, and ENS Domains
The seized assets span across:
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Bitcoin (BTC)
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Stablecoins (USDC, USDT)
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Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs)
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Ethereum Name Service (ENS) domains
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Funds held in self-custody wallets and Binance accounts
These assets were initially frozen in April 2023, part of an earlier indictment against Sim Hyon Sop, a China-based banker accused of helping funnel the funds back to Pyongyang.
🧑⚖️ DOJ Vows Crackdown on Crypto Abuse by Rogue States
Matthew Galeotti, of the DOJ’s criminal division, stated the agency is using “every legal tool” to stop North Korea from exploiting the crypto ecosystem.
“This case reflects the regime’s growing attempts to abuse crypto to fund weapons programs,” said Galeotti.
🌍 Global Warning About North Korea’s Crypto Strategy
The DOJ’s move follows a 2022 joint advisory by the DOJ, State Department, and Treasury, warning that North Korean tech workers were increasingly infiltrating freelance roles in crypto and Web3 firms.
More recently:
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Google’s Threat Intelligence unit flagged an expansion of North Korean crypto operations into Europe
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ZachXBT, a blockchain investigator, uncovered a ring of North Korean developers allegedly earning $500,000/month working on legitimate crypto projects
As scrutiny grows, U.S. authorities are tightening efforts to expose and dismantle these covert crypto-laundering operations tied to state-sponsored hacking and weapons development.
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