Two Chinese Individuals Sanctioned in the US Regarding Crypto Money Laundering

• The United States has sanctioned two Chinese individuals who were accused of laundering crypto stolen from an exchange back in 2018. 
• Simultaneously, the Department of Justice announced an indictment for money laundering against the same two people.

The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control in the United States has sanctioned two Chinese individuals who were accused of laundering cryptocurrency which was stolen from an exchange back in 2018. Simultaneously, the Department of Justice announced an indictment for money laundering against the same two people.

The malicious activity has been linked to Lazarus Group, a hacking group who is supposedly connected to the North Korean government. The treasurer’s office has accused Yinyin Tian and Juiadong Li of being involved with malicious cyber-enabled activity. The following statement was made by Secretary, Steven Mnuchin:

“The North Korean regime has continued its widespread campaign of extensive cyber-attacks on financial institutions to steal funds. The United States will continue to protect the global financial system by holding accountable those who help North Korea engage in cyber-crime.”

On a different Department of Justice charge, the Justice Department Criminal Divisions Assistant Attorney General, Brian Benczkowski said the following:

“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.”

The indictment in question claims that the North Korean conspirators stole over $250 million of cryptocurrency in 2018 from an exchange and that the two individuals were able to launder $100 million worth of cryptocurrency between December 2017 and April last year to the connections in North Korea.

It will be interesting to see how this situation plays out. For more news on this and other crypto updates, keep it with CryptoDaily!