The Department of Justice (DOJ) has taken action to freeze over $7.7 million in cryptocurrency allegedly earned by North Korean IT workers using stolen U.S. identities. The funds are said to be part of a sophisticated sanctions-evasion network aimed at funding Pyongyang’s weapons development.
According to a civil forfeiture complaint filed in the District of Columbia, North Korean nationals posed as remote IT contractors for companies in the United States and elsewhere. Their goal was to generate hard-to-trace crypto income to funnel back to the regime in Pyongyang quietly. By using fake identities and securing jobs in blockchain development firms, they built up a digital pipeline worth over $7.74 million.
The DOJ’s efforts are part of a broader initiative to disrupt illicit revenue streams that support North Korea’s weapons program. The funds were frozen during an earlier case involving Sim Hyon Sop, an alleged Foreign Trade Bank representative working with these IT operatives. U.S. authorities claim Sim coordinated money flows between the workers and the North Korean government.
The FBI, which led the investigation, revealed that North Korea deployed these operatives in countries including China, Russia, and Laos. The workers used U.S.-based laptop farms and VPN obfuscation to hide their true locations, while assuming the identities of Americans to receive payments in cryptocurrencies like USDC and USDT.
This forfeiture action is part of the DPRK RevGen: Domestic Enabler Initiative, which targets both U.S.-based enablers and North Korean collaborators operating abroad. Recent actions under this initiative have included criminal indictments and asset seizures, with activity in May, August, December 2024, and January 2025.
The DOJ’s crackdown on the North Korean crypto laundering scheme underscores the government’s commitment to safeguarding the cryptocurrency ecosystem and preventing illicit actors from exploiting it for their gain.
References:
– CryptoCurrency – Finance Magnates | Financial and business news
– Cointelegraph.com News
