According to the US Justice, the accused European citizens took Virgil Griffith to play a vital role in the event in the North Korean capital in 2019, which is why he faces a sentence of five years in jail after charges linked to conspiracy.
The US Department of Justice (DoJ) issued charges against two European citizens, accused of getting linked with the North Korean administration and backing them up by giving information to avoid international punishments through the implementation of digital assets.
DoJ Punished two European Citizens for Conspiring with North Korea
According to the DoJ, the accused would be the Spanish Alejandro Cao de Benos and Christopher Emms from the United Kingdom. They were members of the Conference on Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies team in Pyongyang, North Korea.
Ethereum developer Virgil Griffith received an invitation to this event back in 2019 to share his expertise regarding the crescent technology that involves digital assets and Blockchain. The DoJ accused him of representing a conspiracy threat to the US because he would be training the North Korean administration regarding the use of Blockchain and digital currencies as alternative methods to finance themselves.
The report filed by the US entity aimed at Cao and Emms for hiring Griffith and instigating him to take part in the conference; Griffith received a sentence of five years in jail for similar accusations.
North Korea and Digital Assets
There has been concern about the connections of the North Korean administration with digital currencies, which is why they get linked to specific high-profile attacks on the international scale, primarily aimed against crypto entities and prominent companies.
Various reports highlight that different malicious teams are working with the backup of the North Korean government.
Recent cases have flourished regarding attacks on blockchain networks and exchanges, and the attack over the Ronin network is perhaps the most curious one. This attack got related to the famous game Axie Infinity, from which attackers stole USD 600 million in tokens and which reports adhered to the Lazarus group, precisely because many addresses housing the funds served to move digital assets.
It is unclear if the citizens take part in a criminal team. Still, the prosecutor Williams explained that Alejandro Cao de Benos and Christopher Emms set up a conspiracy with Virgil Griffith, a crypto specialist convicted of conspiring to adulterate economic punishments applied to the Asian Nation.
The specialist got convicted because he taught and advised members of the North Korean government about reducing cutting-edge digital currencies and Blockchain technology, all to avoid US punishments created to stop North Korea’s hostile nuclear desires.
Emms might have warned North Korean officials that this technology achieved the possibility to migrate funds to any region worldwide, regardless of any financial punishment imposed on any country around the world.
According to the report, Cao and Emms are fugitives from justice, so they have active search warrants to get captured and jailed.
By: Jenson Nuñez
