Chinese Nationals Indicted in Alleged North Korean Cryptocurrency Hack
Published by The Lawfare Institute
in Cooperation With
U.S. indictments were unsealed yesterday against two Chinese nationals charged with laundering over $100 million worth of cryptocurrency on behalf of North Korean hackers. In the two-count indictment handed up in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Monday, March 2, Tian Yinyin and Li Jiadong were charged with money laundering conspiracy and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business.
According to the civil forfeiture complaint also unsealed today, North Korean co-conspirators hacked into a virtual currency exchange and stole nearly $250 million in cryptocurrency in 2018. The complaint, which seeks to recover the funds, specifically names 113 virtual currency accounts used by the defendants to launder the funds.
You can read the indictment and complaint below:
