OFAC Sanctions People, Entities Tied to North Korean IT Worker Scheme
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned two people and two entities for helping North Korea deploy information technology workers at foreign companies to generate revenue for its government.
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The agency designated Russian national Vitaliy Sergeyevich Andreyev for facilitating payments to U.S.-sanctioned Chinyong Information Technology Cooperation Co., an entity that has ties to North Korea's defense ministry and employs IT workers in Russia and Laos. OFAC also sanctioned Kim Ung Sun, a Russia-based North Korean official who works with Andreyev to facilitate those money transfers. The two worked to transfer nearly $600,000 by converting cryptocurrency to cash in U.S. dollars, OFAC said.
The designations also target Shenyang Geumpungri Network Technology Co. Ltd, which OFAC said is a Chinese front company for Chinyong. The company employs North Korean IT workers that have earned over $1 million for Chinyong and Korea Sinjin Trading Corp., a North Korean company also sanctioned this week by OFAC. Korea Sinjin is a "subordinate" to the U.S.-sanctioned North Korean Ministry of People’s Armed Forces General Political Bureau, OFAC said, and it has received "directives" from North Korean officials about the IT workers it deploys around the world.