‘Blockchain Island’ Malta guru wanted by FBI now seeks asylum in Russia
British national Christopher Emms, who once claimed to have spearheaded Malta’s ‘Blockchain Island’ fever in 2018, has found himself on the FBI’s wanted list for teaching the technology to North Korea – he has said he now seeking political asylum in Russia.
Emms is currently wanted in the United States, where he faces up to 20 years in prison for allegedly teaching North Korean government officials at a conference he hosted in Pyongyang how to use blockchain to launder money and avoid U.S. sanctions — crimes he allegedly committed while was active during Malta’s Blockchain Island frenzy.
Emms led Decentralized Ventures, which was “set up to support the Maltese government’s plans to create the world’s first fully regulated market for ICOs, distributed ledger technology and virtual currencies”.
However, a year after the establishment of the “partnership” with the Maltese government, Emms was in North Korea, campaigning for the dictatorship.
According to the US Department of Justice, “In his own sales pitch, Emms allegedly informed North Korean officials that cryptocurrency technology made it possible to transfer money to any country in the world regardless of the sanctions or penalties imposed on any country’.”
The pitch was made at the 2019 Pyongyang Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Conference, where alleged violations of US sanctions also led to the controversial arrest and indictment of Ethereum developer Virgil Griffith for similar offenses.
At the time of the conference, Emms had already set up shop and operated from Malta, especially during the 2018-2019 “grandfathering period” when cryptocurrency controls were lax and had drawn companies like Binance to Malta for a while.
During that period, such operations were largely exempt from the need for authorization or even the need to comply with anti-money laundering laws.
While operating in Malta as CEO of TokenKey, Emms, along with de Benos and Griffith, was accused of “conspiring to violate economic sanctions imposed on North Korea, to teach and advise members of the North Korean government about cutting-edge cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, all for the purpose of avoiding US sanctions intended to stop North Korea’s hostile nuclear ambitions”.
They also reportedly proposed plans to create specialized “smart contracts” to serve the DPRK’s unique interests. They charted cryptocurrency transactions designed to evade and avoid US sanctions, including charts of such transactions on a whiteboard for the North Korean audience.
“In a question-and-answer session,” the DOJ notes in an indictment filed last April, “Emms described how North Koreans could use over-the-counter cryptocurrency providers in transactions to evade and evade U.S. sanctions.”
They had even planned to hold a follow-up cryptocurrency conference in the DPRK in 2020, which was canceled after the arrest of Griffith in November 2019. Griffiths was sentenced to five years in prison in a high-profile case for giving a presentation at the same time. conference.
In April 2018, Emms spoke at another cryptocurrency conference in Dubai. He announced Decentralized Ventures, a partnership “created to support the Maltese government’s plans to create the world’s first fully regulated market for ICOs, distributed ledger technology (DLT) and virtual currencies.”
“Decentralized Ventures aims to play a central role in encouraging more businesses and organizations to benefit from Malta’s forward-looking regulatory approach,” the statement said.
“One of the company’s key strategic goals is to support the development of fully decentralized financial markets built on blockchain and other DLT platforms. Their service approach is intended to help new players get started and flourish in Malta’s supportive regulatory environment.”
A year later, Emms was in the DPRK giving instructions “on how the DPRK could use blockchain and cryptocurrency technology to launder money and avoid sanctions”.
