US Treasury Issues Sanctions Over North Korean Crypto Money Laundering

North Korea’s government has been caught red handed—again.

That’s according to the feds, who today announced that they have sanctioned two individuals tied to a crypto money laundering network with alleged ties to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. 

In a Tuesday statement, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said it had sanctioned Lu Huaying and Zhang Jian for allegedly laundering digital assets to fund the already heavily sanctioned government in Pyongyang. 

The Treasury Department alleged that a front company in the United Arab Emirates, named Green Alpine Trading LLC, was used to turn crypto into cash. The agency credited the UAE for help in targeting the sanctioned individuals.

“Today’s sanctions are a part of ongoing efforts to disrupt the DPRK’s money laundering operations, which finance the regime’s unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs,” Tuesday’s statement reads. 

The sanctions mean that both Huaying and Jian have had their assets frozen and that Americans won’t be able to do business with them or with their company. 

Acting Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Bradley T. Smith added that the North Korean regime used “complex criminal schemes” to fund its missile program—including “exploiting digital assets.”

North Korean actors are no stranger to crypto: Hacking groups with ties to the country’s ruler, such as Lazarus, have used mixing tools like Tornado Cash and other apps in order to hide the trace of dirty funds, U.S. authorities have alleged.

Other digital asset researchers and blockchain trackers have released data showing that hackers with government ties target crypto exchanges to steal funds.  

The U.S. only yesterday hit North Korea with more sanctions, targeting a number of banks and officials with the aim of disrupting the hermit kingdom’s support of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Edited by Andrew Hayward