Ethereum developer pleads guilty to helping North Korea evade sanctions
Ethereum developer Virgil Griffith has pled guilty to conspiracy charges after helping North Korea to evade US sanctions using crypto payments.
Griffith yesterday admitted to conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act by helping North Korea to set up crypto payment infrastructure. The software expert was arrested in 2019 after speaking at the North Korea cryptocurrency conference.
US Attorney Audrey Strauss condemned Griffith’s behaviour saying he had “jeopardized the national security of the United States” by aiding a “treacherous regime.”
“As he admitted in court today, Virgil Griffith agreed to help one of our nation’s most dangerous foreign adversaries, North Korea,” Strauss said.
According to the filing Griffith, a cryptocurrency expert, began formulating plans as early as 2018 to provide services to fund payment infrastructure including for crypto mining.
Griffith intended to help North Korea use these services to evade US sanctions, and to fund its nuclear weapons program and other illicit activities. He also attempted to recruit other U.S. citizens to travel to North Korea and provide similar services.
Griffith was released on bail in 2020, but returned in jail following allegations that he tried to violate his bail conditions by accessing his Coinbase holdings to pay his attorneys. According to CoinDesk, prosecutors said Griffith had violated the terms of his bail which restricted access to funds earned through his North Korea dealings.
The charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and Griffith is scheduled to be sentenced by District Judge P. Kevin Castel on January 18, 2022.
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