US demands recovery of $7.70 million laundered through cryptocurrency in North Korea in case involving an IT worker

The Department of Justice has moved to seize $7.74 million in cryptocurrency allegedly earned by North Korean IT workers using false identities and working at blockchain firms as remote contractors.
The Department of Justice said in a statement on June 5 that the funds were initially frozen in April 2023 as part of an indictment against Sim Hyon Sop, a banker working in China who allegedly assisted North Korean IT workers in laundering money.
According to a civil forfeiture complaint filed June 5 in federal court in Washington, D.C., the Justice Department is seeking to seize multiple cryptocurrencies, including stablecoins and bitcoin (BTC) in varying amounts, as well as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and Ethereum Name Service (ENS) domains stored in multiple self-custodial wallets and Binance accounts.