- The US Department of Justice charges two Europeans with conspiracy to help North Korea evade sanctions.
- Alejandro and Christopher are accused of cooperating with Virgil Griffith who illegally provide blockchain assistance to North Korea.
- Griffith pleaded guilty to assisting North Korea in evading economic sanctions.
On Monday, April 25, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the charge of two Europeans for crypto fraud. The two stand accused of cooperating with Virgil Griffith, a former ETH developer recently convicted for helping North Korea avoid US sanctions.
According to Manhattan prosecutors, Alejandro Cao de Benos, 47, and Christopher Emms, 30, could be detained for up to 20 years for conspiring to break United States’ sanctions against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). The two worked with the ex-Ethereum developer to illegally provide cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology assistance to North Korea.
Cao De Benos and Emms remain at large. Griffith pleaded guilty to charges of assisting North Korea in evading economic sanctions in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). In April 2022, the DOJ punished him with 63 months in jail with a $100,000 fine.
Over the past few years, different nations have charged political and economic penalties on North Korea. In mid-January 2022, the Biden administration passed its first weapons-related sanctions.
According to a report released by the DOJ, the Treasury Department announced the actions that followed six North Korean ballistic missile tests since September, which violated UN Security Council resolutions.
On April 2, 2022, the US imposed new sanctions on five North Korean organizations involved in the country’s most recent missile tests. The penalties were a result of DPRK’s first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) flight in more than four years.