U.S. Treasury sanctions North Korean bankers and IT firms over $3 billion crypto theft scheme

Summary

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned eight individuals and two entities for laundering cryptocurrency linked to North Korean cyber‑theft operations that have generated over $3 billion in the past three years. The designations include bankers Jang Kuk Chol and Ho Jong Son of First Credit Bank, the IT firm Korea Mangyongdae Computer Technology Company and its president U Yong Su, Ryujong Credit Bank, and five banking representatives operating in China and Russia. The sanctions freeze any U.S.-linked assets and bar U.S. persons from conducting transactions with the listed parties, with warnings of secondary sanctions for intermediaries that facilitate their activities.