{"id":253079,"date":"2020-03-03T08:55:34","date_gmt":"2020-03-03T13:55:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/?p=253079"},"modified":"2020-03-03T08:55:34","modified_gmt":"2020-03-03T13:55:34","slug":"washington-charges-chinese-nationals-connected-to-north-koreas-lazarus-group","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insidebitcoins.com\/news\/washington-charges-chinese-nationals-connected-to-north-koreas-lazarus-group","title":{"rendered":"Washington Charges Chinese Nationals Connected to North Korea\u2019s Lazarus Group"},"content":{"rendered":"

The United States government is taking a hard stance against cyberterrorism and going directly to one of the most popular criminal groups on the Internet.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Earlier this week, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), a part of the United States Treasury Department, announced that it would be placing heavy economic sanctions on two Chinese nationals who are suspected of having been connected to a cryptocurrency exchange hack back in 2018.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Money Laundering and Assisted Exchange Hacks\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

In a\u00a0<\/span>press release<\/span><\/a>\u00a0to that effect, the OFAC explained that the individuals \u2013 who were identified at Juiadong Li and Yinyin Tian \u2013 had engaged in an activity that linked them to the Lazarus Group, a hacker organization that\u2019s been proven to be affiliated with the government of North Korea. Both men were accused of having conducted \u201ca malicious cyber-enabled activity,\u201d in which millions of dollars were stolen from investors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cThe 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,\u201d Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin explained in the statement.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

On the same day, the Department of Justice announced that it had indicted the men on money laundering charges. In its own<\/span>\u00a0press release<\/span><\/a>, the DoJ alleged that men had assisted the Lazarus Group to steal up to $250 million from an unnamed crypto exchange in 2018 (most likely the infamous Coincheck hack). The group had also laundered as much as $100 million worth of cryptocurrencies between December 2017 and April 2019 on behalf of their North Korean\u00a0<\/span>compadres.<\/span><\/em>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n