A North Korean bank official, Sim Hyon Sop, has been charged with crypto laundering conspiracies and illegal wage laundering through a group of North Korean IT workers. The workers assumed fake identities and were paid in digital assets, which were then used to launder earnings and redirect them to North Korea. The sanctioned state used these funds to "generate revenue for North Korea's ballistic missile and WMD programs." The charges present a broader pattern of North Korean users leveraging VPNs and virtual digital assets to redirect revenues to North Korea. The FBI continues to investigate the case, and the money laundering charges are punishable by a maximum of 20 years in prison. However, the North Korean bank official and others are unlikely to face trial since they were largely based in China or Hong Kong when the crime occurred.

(By Bhushan Akolkar)