Outside Source
Two Chinese citizens and a UAE trading company have been sanctioned by the United States for their roles in money laundering for North Korea.
News
The United States Department of the Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) worked closely with the government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to impose sanctions on enablers of North Korean digital asset laundering.
Disassembling a network
OFAC has sanctioned two individuals — Chinese citizens Lu Huaying and Zhang Jian — and UAE-based Green Alpine Trading for their parts in cryptocurrency conversion and the laundering of funds that were subsequently sent to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Acting Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Bradley T. Smith said in a statement:
“As the DPRK continues to use complex criminal schemes to fund its WMD [weapons of mass destruction] and ballistic missile programs — including through the exploitation of digital assets — Treasury remains focused on disrupting the networks that facilitate this flow of funds to the regime.”
Lu and Zhang are residents of the UAE. Lu allegedly converted cryptocurrency into fiat and used it to obtain goods and services destined for North Korea or its proxies. He was active between early 2022 and September 2023, the Treasury Department said.
Zhang was also involved in currency operations. He possibly also acted as a courier for Sim Hyon Sop, an executive of Korea Kwangson Banking Corporation in China. Sim was sanctioned in April 2023 and the US Justice Department has unsealed two indictments against him at that time.
Sim was accused of running money laundering operations and conspiring with North Korean information technology workers to generate income illegally in the United States.
UAE-based Green Alpine Trading company is alleged to be a front for money laundering operations that support Sim’s activities. The company’s website is currently suspended.
Related: US Treasury under Trump could take a different approach to Tornado Cash
Resourceful adversaries
According to TRM Labs, groups with ties to North Korea stole at least $600 million in cryptocurrency in 2023, and possibly as much as $700 million, through a variety of means. Another source said the North Koreans stole $3 billion worth of crypto between 2017 and 2023.
Among the techniques that have been attributed to North Korean actors are impersonating authorized workers, hacking cryptocurrency exchanges, planting malware in an operating system and using crypto mixers.
Magazine: Lazarus Group’s favorite exploit revealed — Crypto hacks analysis
This article first appeared at Cointelegraph.com News
