The US Treasury Department announced on Tuesday the dismantling of a North Korean money laundering network that used cryptocurrency to launder millions of dollars for the country, a known leader in cryptocurrency-related crime.
According to a press release from the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), a UAE-based front company, Green Alpine Trading, LLC, had been converting cryptocurrency into cash for North Korea.
OFAC has added this company, along with two Chinese nationals involved in the network since 2022, to its sanctions blacklist. The United Arab Emirates collaborated in this operation, according to the press release. The current status of the two sanctioned Chinese nationals, Lu Huaying and Zhang Jian, remains unclear.
They are said to have worked in conjunction with DPRK “agent” Sim Hyon Sop. North Korea is recognized as one of the most active state actors targeting the cryptocurrency sector, with its agents allegedly stealing billions of dollars in cryptocurrency to finance the nation’s nuclear weapons program.
The conversion of digital currency into fiat currency is essential for making these stolen funds usable.
