The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned ten individuals and one company on Tuesday for helping North Korea collect wages from foreign employers, including American companies. These workers use false identities, AI-generated resumes, doctored photos and deepfakes to join legitimate firms, then send most of their earnings back to the North Korean regime. Two Russian nationals, Vitold Obertas and Ilya Boykov, are at the center of the action: the former allegedly handled nearly $2 million in crypto conversions and at least $1.25 million in transfers in other currencies, while the latter allegedly converted about $3.5 million for the sanctioned North Korean IT worker company Alis. Treasury also sanctioned Kim Ki Hyok, Kim Hyo Dong, six workers and a North Korea-controlled entity operating in Russia, and published Ethereum and Tron wallet addresses tied to the designated individuals. The action, coordinated with Australia, the European Union and the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team, follows March’s designation of a North Korean IT worker network accused of laundering roughly $800 million in crypto.
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