Security News > 2021 > September > Ethereum dev admits to helping North Korea evade crypto sanctions
Griffith, who worked as a special projects dev and researcher for the Ethereum Foundation, was arrested in November 2019 by the FBI. Advice on how to evade sanctions and launder money.
His arrest happened after he traveled to North Korea to give a presentation on how to use cryptocurrency and blockchain tech to launder money and evade sanctions.
He went to North Korea even though he was denied permission by the U.S. Department of State and knew that doing so would violate U.S. sanctions against the DPRK while having no license from the Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control.
According to court documents, the cryptocurrency expert chose to receive his travel visa on a separate paper instead of on his U.S. passport to avoid creating physical evidence of his travel to North Korea.
"Griffith worked with others to provide cryptocurrency services to North Korea and assist North Korea in evading sanctions, and traveled to North Korea to do so."
"In the process, Griffith jeopardized the national security of the United States by undermining the sanctions that both Congress and the President have enacted to place maximum pressure on the threat posed by North Korea's treacherous regime."