Cryptocurrency: British man accused of conspiring to help North Korea evade US sanctions | World News
A British man is one of two European men accused of conspiring with an American cryptocurrency developer to help North Korea evade US sanctions.
Britain’s Christopher Emms and Spain’s Alejandro Cao De Benos, allegedly worked with Virgil Griffith, to illegally provide cryptocurrency and blockchain technology services to North Korea, according to the US attorney’s office. States in the Southern District of New York.
It comes as Griffith, 39, was recently jailed for five years for helping the North Korean regime evade US sanctions imposed over its nuclear weapons program.
The indictment alleges that the pair conspired with Griffith from about 2018 to about November 2019.
Virgil Griffith pleaded guilty last year while touring North Korea. Photo: @ VirgilGr / Twitter
According to court documents, Emms and De Benos jointly planned and held the Pyongyang Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Conference for the benefit of the country, the lawyer’s office said. .
Both Emms, 30, and De Benos, 47, are still adults, the law office added.
US Attorney Damian Williams said Emms and De Benos conspired with Griffiths “to teach and advise members of the North Korean government about advanced cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, all with the aim of evading them.” U.S. sanctions aimed at thwarting North Korea’s hostile nuclear ambitions.”
He added that Emms allegedly advised North Korean officials that cryptocurrency technology “makes it possible to transfer money across any country in the world regardless of sanctions or any other sanctions imposed.” applicable to any country'”.
Last September, Griffith pleaded guilty to traveling to North Korea (North Korea). to attend a blockchain conference in the capital Pyongyang in April 2019, despite being denied permission to go there by the US State Department.
At the conference in the capital, he “provided guidance on how North Korea can use blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies to launder money and evade sanctions,” according to the Justice Department.
Griffiths, who lives in Singapore, avoided creating real proof that he had been to North Korea by paying €100 for a visa, which he attached to a separate piece of paper from his US passport.
North Korea is increasingly using cryptocurrency to get around international sanctions and could use it to help fund weapons of mass destruction programs.
