• Two Europeans are charged by the US Department of Justice with conspiring to aid North Korea in evading sanctions.
• Christopher and Alejandro are charged with cooperating in the illegal supply of blockchain assistance to North Korea by Virgil Griffith.
• Griffith admitted he assisted North Korea to avoid economic sanctions.

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), announced Monday that two Europeans have been charged for cryptocurrency fraud. They are accused of having cooperated with Virgil Griffith (an ex-ETH developer) who was recently convicted for helping North Korea escape 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). They worked together with an ex-Ethereum developer in order to illicitly supply cryptocurrencies and other blockchain technology support to North Korea.

Cao De Benos and Emms remain at large. Griffith pleaded guilty in the case of aiding North Korea to evade economic sanctions, in violation of International Emergency Economic Powers Acts (IEEPA). The DOJ sentenced Griffith to 63 months imprisonment and a $100,000 fine in April 2022.

Different countries have imposed economic and political sanctions on North Korea over the years. Mid-January 2022 saw the Biden government pass its first arms-related sanctions.

A DOJ report reveals that the Treasury Department published the steps taken in response to six North Korean missile launches since September. This 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.

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