The United States announced the imposition of sanctions on approximately ten individuals and one company. These entities were accused of collaborating in creating a network aimed at committing fraud against American companies and generating profits on behalf of North Korea.
Washington reported that the targets of these sanctions, who hold North Korean and Russian nationality, assisted in establishing an IT support service directed at American corporations. The scheme involved stealing data from these companies with the intent of forcing them to pay ransoms for the information.
The Treasury Department calculated that this operation yielded millions of dollars, with a significant portion of these funds allegedly being diverted by the North Korean government to finance its weapons of mass destruction and missile programs.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent denounced that the North Korean regime continues to exploit American companies through fraudulent activities carried out by its IT agents abroad, using sensitive data as a weapon to extort large sums from the companies.
Bessent guaranteed that the U.S. will not hesitate to take measures to protect American companies against such malicious practices.
According to Washington's disclosure, the European Union and Australia have joined this round of sanctions. It targets one North Korean company and eight North Korean citizens, all residing in Russia, in addition to two Russian citizens.
The penalties imposed include the freezing of all assets of the sanctioned parties, whether direct or indirect, located in the United States, as well as a prohibition on using the dollar in their transactions. Furthermore, any American or foreign company or citizen with a presence in the U.S. is prohibited from doing business with the targeted entity or individuals, under penalty of facing sanctions themselves.
These sanctions come two weeks after the Department of Justice took action against another network. This second network involved two Americans and at least ten people based in China, involved in the covert financing of North Korea.
Again, it involved providing remote IT assistance services, which generated three million dollars in revenue, supposedly for the benefit of North Korean entities subject to international sanctions, according to the U.S. Treasury.
