The U.S. Department of Justice
wants to confiscate $7.7 million worth of cryptocurrency seized in connection with an alleged scheme to launder money on behalf of the North Korean government.
The DOJ filed a civil forfeiture complaint on Thursday. “North Korean IT workers obtained illegal employment and amassed millions in cryptocurrency for the benefit of the North Korean government,” the agency alleges.
The funds were initially frozen in connection to an April 2023 indictment against a man named Sim Hyon Sop.
In that indictment, the government alleged that Sim, a North Korean Foreign Trade Bank representative based in the United Arab Emirates, conspired with North Korean IT workers to launder the ill-gotten funds.
Sim was charged with conspiracy to launder monetary instruments in 2023 in connection to his relationship with the alleged North Korean IT workers.
The statement does not specify where the IT workers associated with Sim were employed. Still, the DOJ alleges that the workers flew under the radar by bypassing “security and due diligence checks using fraudulent (or fraudulently obtained) identification documents.”
Once hired, the workers would allegedly receive a salary—often in stablecoins like USDC or USDT—and send the funds back to North Korea via Sim or another North Korean national.
“For years,” said Sue J. Bai, head of the DOJ’s national security division, “North Korea has exploited global remote IT contracting and cryptocurrency ecosystems to evade U.S. sanctions and bankroll its weapons programs.”
—Catherine McGrath
