Odaily Frontline | "Going to North Korea" Ethereum developer Virgil Griffith has been released on bail
This article comes fromModern Consensus, original author: Amy Castor
Odaily Translator: Azuma
Odaily Translator: Azuma
Virgil Griffith, former head of special projects at the Ethereum Foundation, has been released on bail today. Ten days ago, Judge Vernon Broderick of the District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled that Virgil Griffith could be released on bail to his parents' home in Alabama with a bail of $1 million.
Griffith was arrested in Los Angeles on Thanksgiving Day 2019. In April last year, he traveled to North Korea to give a speech on cryptocurrencies and blockchain in Pyongyang. U.S. prosecutors said Griffith allegedly assisted "rogue regimes" in using cryptocurrencies to bypass sanctions.
Legal and litigation media Inner City Press tweeted a picture of the bail agreement today. Griffith signed the agreement with Deputy Court Clerk Kyle A. Wirshba.
Although the court had already released Griffith on bail pending a ruling on December 30, in order to make up the high bail, Griffith's sister and parents had to mortgage their house. Griffith's sister and parents paid the majority of the million-dollar bond, according to another report from Modern Consensus. The Inner City Press also reported that bail form information showed that Griffith's parents had signed a bond agreement on January 6. It was not clear why he was held for three days after that.
Griffith had been living in Singapore before his arrest. While he is out on bail, he will go to Tuscaloosa, Alabama (Tuscaloosa) to live with his parents in the residence specified in the bail agreement.
However, bail may only mean that Virgil Griffith can breathe a sigh of relief. The day after the agreement was signed, on Jan. 7, a U.S. federal grand jury formally indicted Griffith for violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The act prohibits U.S. citizens from exporting goods, services or technology to North Korea without approval from the Treasury Department.
The indictment filed with the Supreme Court also states that another unnamed suspect accused of conspiring with Griffith "is expected to be arrested and brought first in the District Court for the Southern District of New York."
