The U.S. Department of Justice rounded up several convictions in its pursuit of domestic helpers involved in schemes by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to pocket significant amounts of cryptocurrency. It also seized assets from cyber heists targeting crypto platforms, as noted in a recent statement.
The five guilty pleas announced were linked to individuals who assisted North Korea in securing U.S. jobs for fraudulent information-technology workers, acquiring stolen U.S. identities for these workers, and helping conceal their geographic origins while they received paychecks from numerous U.S. businesses. Investigations conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation continue to unveil North Korea’s ongoing efforts to evade U.S. sanctions and generate millions to fund its authoritarian regime and weapons programs, according to an FBI assistant director. He urged companies to enhance their vetting processes for remote workers to counter this trend.
Authorities have been consistently seizing crypto assets from wrongdoers around the globe, adding another $15 million in Tether’s USDT from North Korean sources recently. These assets are linked to cyber heists attributed to a group allegedly associated with the North Korean military.
Earlier this week, the DOJ and other federal agencies also announced a Scam Center Strike Force to target the hubs of so-called pig-butchering scams, commonly located in Southeast Asia and operated by criminal organizations. The authorities reported an additional $80 million in stolen funds seized in this effort, with victims to be compensated from the confiscated money.
It remains unclear how much of the seized crypto funds will be directed to the reserves that the President has sought to establish as a long-term investment for the U.S. government. His administration has been working toward creating a bitcoin strategic reserve to hold all BTC obtained through criminal and civil forfeitures, along with a separate reserve for all other digital assets. However, officials involved in these reserves have indicated that congressional action may be necessary to formally implement the plan.
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