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The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced the seizure of over $7.7 million in cryptocurrency that was allegedly earned by North Korean IT workers using stolen U.S. identities. This action is part of a broader effort to disrupt illicit revenue streams that fund North Korea’s weapons development programs and circumvent international sanctions.
These North Korean IT workers reportedly posed as remote contractors for companies in the United States and other countries. Their goal was to generate hard-to-trace crypto income and funnel it back to the regime in Pyongyang. The funds, amounting to over $7.74 million, were initially frozen in connection with an earlier case involving Sim Hyon Sop, an alleged representative of North Korea’s Foreign Trade Bank, who was believed to coordinate money flows between the workers and the North Korean government.
The civil forfeiture complaint filed in the District of Columbia alleges that these workers employed sophisticated money laundering techniques to obscure the origins of the funds. These methods included using fictitious identities, “chain hopping” between different blockchains, token swaps, and even purchasing NFTs to disguise value transfers.
This latest seizure highlights the ongoing efforts by the U.S. to combat North Korea’s use of cybercrime and illicit financial activities to bypass sanctions. The DOJ and other U.S. agencies have been actively targeting both U.S.-based enablers and North Korean collaborators operating abroad, with previous actions including criminal indictments and asset seizures.
North Korean IT workers have been known to earn significant amounts, sometimes up to $300,000 annually per individual, collectively generating hundreds of millions of dollars each year for the regime. This scheme not only provides revenue for North Korea but also poses cybersecurity threats and instances of identity theft against U.S. citizens and companies.

Video courtesy of Eurex

Video courtesy of Eurex