DOJ Seizes Crypto, NFTs in North Korea IT Scheme

The U.S. Department of Justice has seized over $7.74 million in cryptocurrency and NFTs allegedly laundered by North Korean IT workers who posed as Americans to obtain remote tech jobs at U.S. blockchain and technology firms. These operatives used stolen or fake identities to bypass KYC checks and employed advanced methods such as chain hopping, token swapping, and NFT purchases to obscure the source of funds. The scheme routed laundered assets through sanctioned intermediaries, including North Korean officials Sim Hyon Sop and Kim Sang Man, ultimately sending the money back to North Korea to evade sanctions and support its weapons program. The operation spanned several countries, including China, Russia, and Laos, and involved tactics like AI-generated personas, deepfake technology, and 'laptop farms' to mimic U.S.-based work. Major tech firms, including Google and OpenAI, have responded by disabling accounts linked to North Korean deception. The DOJ highlights initiatives like DPRK RevGen as critical to disrupting North Korea's exploitation of the global cryptocurrency system.