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DOJ seizes $500,000 in ransom, cryptocurrency from state-sponsored North Korean hackers – Regulation Bitcoin News
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has seized $500,000 in ransom money and cryptocurrency from a state-backed North Korean group. “We are returning the stolen funds to the victims,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco said, adding that the seized funds include ransoms paid by health care providers in Kansas and Colorado.
DOJ seizes crypto from North Korean state-backed group
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Tuesday that it has seized and forfeited approximately $500,000 from North Korean ransomware actors and their co-conspirators. The department added that it has filed a complaint “in the District of Kansas to forfeit cryptocurrency paid as ransom to North Korean hackers or otherwise used to launder such ransom.”
The DOJ stated:
In May 2022, the FBI filed a sealed seizure warrant for the funds worth approximately half a million dollars. The seized funds include ransoms paid by health care providers in Kansas and Colorado.
Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco reiterated Tuesday at the 2022 International Conference on Cyber Security, “We seized approximately half a million dollars in ransom money and cryptocurrency used to launder these payments.” She added: “Thanks to the prompt reporting and cooperation of a victim, FBI and Justice Department prosecutors have disrupted the activities of a North Korean state-sponsored ransomware distribution group known as ‘Maui.'”
Last year, the North Korean group encrypted the servers of a Kansas medical center that were used to “store critical data and operate key equipment,” Monaco said in detail. The attackers demanded a ransom, which the hospital paid.
FBI and Justice Department prosecutors tracked ransom through the blockchain. “The FBI identified China-based money launderers — the kind who regularly help North Koreans ‘pay’ ransoms in fiat currency,” the deputy attorney general said. “Further blockchain analysis showed that the same accounts contained other ransoms. The FBI traced these to another medical provider in Colorado and potential foreign victims.”
Monaco added:
Today, we have publicly announced the seizure of these ransoms, and we are returning the stolen funds to the victims.
Last October, Monaco announced the creation of a National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET). The goal of the initiative is “to address complex investigations and prosecutions of criminal cryptocurrency abuse, particularly crimes committed by virtual currency exchanges, mixing and tumbling services, and actors in money laundering infrastructure,” the DOJ described. “The team will also help trace and recover assets lost to fraud and extortion, including cryptocurrency payments to ransomware groups.”
What do you think about the DOJ seizing ransom money and cryptocurrency from a North Korean state-sponsored group? Let us know in the comments section below.
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