Funds were stolen by North Korean actors in 2018 and today in Columbia District 田寅寅 aka Tian Yinyin, and 李家东 aka Li Jiadong were accused of money laundering and running an unlicensed money transfer business.
“These defendants allegedly laundered over a hundred million dollars worth of stolen cryptocurrency to obscure transactions for the benefit of actors based in North Korea,”
“Today’s actions underscore that the Department will pierce the veil of anonymity provided by cryptocurrencies to hold criminals accountable, no matter where they are located.”
said Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.
“Today, we are publicly exposing a criminal network’s valuable support to North Korea’s cyber heist program and seizing the fruits of its crimes,”
“This case exemplifies the commitment of the United States government to work with foreign partners and the worldwide financial services industry to disrupt this blended threat.”
said Assistant Attorney General John C. Demers of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.
“The hacking of virtual currency exchanges and related money laundering for the benefit of North Korean actors poses a grave threat to the security and integrity of the global financial system,” “These charges should serve as a reminder that law enforcement, through its partnerships and collaboration, will uncover illegal activity here and abroad, and charge those responsible for unlawful acts and seize illicit funds even when in the form of virtual currency.”
said U.S. Attorney Timothy J. Shea of the District of Columbia.
“North Korea continues to attack the growing worldwide ecosystem of virtual currency as a means to bypass the sanctions imposed on it by the United States and the United Nations Security Council. IRS-CI is committed to combatting the means and methods used by foreign and domestic adversaries to finance operations and activities that pose a threat to U.S. national security,”
“We will continue to push our agency to the forefront of complex cyber investigations and work collaboratively with our law enforcement partners to ensure these nefarious criminals are stopped and that the integrity of the United States financial system is preserved.”
said Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Chief Don Fort.
“The FBI will continue to actively work with our domestic and international law enforcement partners to identify and mitigate illicit movement of currency,”
“Today’s indictment and sanctions send a strong message that the United States will not relent in holding accountable bad actors attempting to evade sanctions and undermine our financial system.”
said Assistant Director Calvin Shivers of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division.
“This case shows how important robust partnerships across the U.S. Government are in disrupting criminal actors,”
said Acting Assistant Director Robert Wells of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division.
“This indictment shows what can be accomplished when international law enforcement agencies work together to uncover complex cross-border crimes,”
“HSI is committed to upholding the rule of law and investigating those that would steal cryptocurrency for their illicit purposes.”
said Acting Executive Associate Director Alysa Erichs of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
Cryptocurrencies is almost a constant target of money laundering and hacker attacks, a few days ago Bitfinex and DDoS attack.
We believe that today’s case will also be an example of the fact that law enforcement agencies are effective and that over time, cryptocurrencies will circumvent similar cases.