The United States demands the recovery of $7.7 million laundered through cryptocurrency in North Korea, involving an IT worker

Golden Finance reports that the US Department of Justice has taken action to seek the confiscation of $7.74 million in cryptocurrency. These cryptocurrencies are reportedly earned by North Korean IT workers using false identities and working as remote contractors in blockchain companies. The US Department of Justice stated in a statement on June 5th that these funds were initially frozen in April 2023 as part of the prosecution against Sim Hyon Sop. Sim Hyon Sop is a banker working in China who reportedly assisted North Korean IT workers in money laundering. According to a civil confiscation lawsuit submitted by the Department of Justice to the federal court in Washington D.C. on June 5th, the department is seeking to confiscate multiple cryptocurrencies, including stablecoins and Bitcoin (BTC) of different amounts, as well as non fungible tokens (NFTs) and Ethereum Name Service (ENS) domains stored in multiple self custodial wallets and Binance accounts.