US Charges 2 Europeans In Plot To Help American Evade N. Korea Sanctions - Justice Dept

Fahad Shabbir (@FahadShabbir) Published April 25, 2022 | 11:47 PM

The United States charged two European nationals for conspiring with an American citizen to help Pyongyang evade US sanctions, the Justice Department announced in a release on Monday

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th April, 2022) The United States charged two European nationals for conspiring with an American citizen to help Pyongyang evade US sanctions, the Justice Department announced in a release on Monday.

"(The US) ... announced today the unsealing of a Superseding Indictment charging ALEJANDRO CAO DE BENOS, a citizen of Spain, and CHRISTOPHER EMMS, a citizen of the United Kingdom, with conspiring to violate United States sanctions on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea by working with US citizen Virgil Griffith to illegally provide cryptocurrency and blockchain technology services to the DPRK," the release said.

The Department pointed out that both charged individuals are currently at large, while Griffith previously pleaded guilty to conspiring to assist Pyongyang in evading sanctions, and was sentenced to 63 months in prison and a $100,000 fine.

In early 2018, Cao de Benos, the founder of the "Korean Friendship Association" and Emms, a cryptocurrency businessman, partnered to jointly plan and organize the "Pyongyang Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Conference" to benefit the DPRK.

Cao de Benos and Emms recruited Griffith, an American cryptocurrency expert, to provide services to Pyongyang at the Conference and arranged his travel to North Korea in April 2019, in violation of US sanctions, according to the release.

After the Cryptocurrency Conference, the Department added, Cao de Benos and Emms continued to conspire with Griffith to provide additional cryptocurrency and blockchain technology services to North Korea.

They planned to hold a second cryptocurrency conference in the North Korea in 2020, according to the release.

Cao de Benos and Emms are charged with one count of conspiring to violate and evade US sanctions, and face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, according to the release.