American of Canadian origin sentenced to 11 years in prison for laundering funds through Bitcoin exchanges for North Korea

U.S. citizen of Canadian origin guilty of laundering funds for North Korea.

Ghaleb Alaumari, a U.S. citizen of Canadian origin, was found guilty of helping North Korean military personnel launder funds obtained from hacks of cryptocurrency exchanges. The Department of Justice announced.

According to investigators, Alaumari was linked to three North Korean military intelligence officers. In early 2020, they were charged with involvement in creating the WannaCry ransomware and stealing more than $1.3 billion. Among the alleged acts were the cyberattack on Sony Pictures Entertainment, an attempted breach of banking networks in Vietnam, Bangladesh, Taiwan, Mexico, Malta and Africa, and the theft of personal data.

Ghaleb Alaumari pleaded guilty in 2020 to conspiring to launder money for North Koreans. He said he was responsible for cashing funds through fraudulent bank accounts and cryptocurrency.

The defendant also admitted to phishing email campaigns. One victim was a Canadian university that transferred $9.4 million to the scammers, believing it was dealing with a major construction company.

“The defendant was an integral conduit for a cybercrime network that looted tens of millions of dollars from a range of organizations and institutions around the world,” said the prosecution.

The U.S. federal court sentenced Alaumari to 11 years in prison and a $30 million fine.

As reported by the UN in 2019, North Korea attacked major cryptocurrency exchanges to obtain foreign currency and thereby ease the impact of international sanctions. Analysts said that through these attacks North Korea stole about $2 billion.

North Korea denied the accusations.

In 2020, experts said North Korea used cryptocurrency worth about $1.5 billion to finance international trade and supply chains, bypassing sanctions.

According to the U.S. military, more than 6,000 hackers worldwide operate under North Korea’s direction.

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