Reuters: The US added several North Korean bankers and institutions to its sanctions list Tuesday, on accusations of laundering cybercrime funds.
“Today, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned eight individuals and two entities for their role in laundering funds derived from a variety of illicit Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) schemes, including cybercrime and information technology (IT) worker fraud,” the agency said in a statement.
The IT company Korea Mangyongdae Computer Technology Company and financial institution Ryujong Credit Bank were among the sanctioned institutions.
The statement said for the last three years, North Korea-linked cybercriminals have stolen more than $3 billion through sophisticated techniques such as advanced malware and social engineering, mostly using cryptocurrency.
“North Korean state-sponsored hackers steal and launder money to fund the regime’s nuclear weapons program,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence John Hurley.
“By generating revenue for Pyongyang’s weapons development, these actors directly threaten U.S. and global security. Treasury will continue to pursue the facilitators and enablers behind these schemes to cut off the DPRK’s illicit revenue streams,” Hurley added.
