The US Department of Justice has indicted Huihui Wu from China and Hung Man Cheng from Hong Kong for their role in converting stolen cryptocurrency into hard currency and goods, as part of a money laundering scheme.
Wu allegedly provided material support to the Lazarus Group, a North Korean hacking group, while Cheng provided material support to Wu. Both men were recruited by an unknown user with the online moniker “live:jammychen0150” who was given instructions for payments from Hyon Sop Sim, a North Korean national living in China who also faces a money laundering charge.
Sim also handled salaries paid in cryptocurrency by US-based companies who unknowingly outsourced work to North Korean IT workers. Federal prosecutors said Sim received $24 million worth of laundered virtual currency between 2021 and March of this year.
At least half of the amount came from the salaries of outsourced North Korean workers. During that time, Sim lived in the United Arab Emirates, but treasury officials said he has recently relocated to Dandong, China.
The North Korean regime has been using cryptocurrency theft to finance the development of weapons of mass destruction, according to experts. The Kim regime’s use of cryptocurrency theft is aimed at pumping up the country’s lagging finances.
North Korean hackers stole almost $620 million in 2022 from Ronin Network, a sidechain tied to blockchain game Axie Infinity. Blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis calculated that North Korean hackers stole $1.7 billion worth of cryptocurrency during 2022.
