U.S. Treasury Sanctions North Korean IT Worker Fraud Network Personnel and Entities

Odaily News The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions against six individuals and two entities, accusing them of involvement in an IT worker fraud scheme orchestrated by North Korea, with the proceeds used to fund North Korean weapons programs.

The sanctioned entities include the North Korean company Amnokgang Technology Development Company and the Vietnamese company Quangvietdnbg International Services Company Limited. The CEO of the latter, Nguyen Quang Viet, is accused of laundering $2.5 million for the network through cryptocurrency. Do Phi Khanh, Hoang Van Nguyen, Yun Song Guk, Hoang Minh Quang, and York Louis Celestino Herrera were also sanctioned for their alleged involvement in the network. The fraud network operated in North Korea, Vietnam, Laos, and Spain.

The sanctions freeze all assets of the aforementioned individuals and entities in the United States and prohibit any financial transactions or commercial dealings with the U.S. OFAC also added 21 cryptocurrency addresses on the Ethereum and Tron networks to the sanctions list. Chainalysis stated that the North Korean IT worker fraud scheme relies on stolen identities and fabricated personal information to secure positions in global companies and may implant malware within corporate networks to steal sensitive information.