Security News
The US government is aggressively pursuing three men accused of wide-ranging and complex conspiracies of laundering stolen and illicit cryptocurrency that the North Korean regime used to finance its massive weapons programs. The Department of Justice this month indicted North Korean national Sim Hyon Sop, Wu HuiHui of China, and Cheng Hung Man, a Hong Kong British national, for their roles in two money laundering conspiracies, both aimed at channeling funds into North Korea's coffers.
"The ChipMixer software blocked the blockchain trail of the funds, making it attractive for cybercriminals looking to launder illegal proceeds from criminal activities such as drug trafficking, weapons trafficking, ransomware attacks, and payment card fraud," Europol said in a statement. ChipMixer, the world's largest centralized crypto mixer service, is estimated to have laundered no less than $3.75 billion worth of digital assets to further a wide range of criminal schemes.
An international law enforcement operation has seized the cryptocurrency mixing service 'ChipMixer' which is said to be used by hackers, ransomware gangs, and scammers to launder their proceeds. ChipMixer has been one of the largest cryptocurrency mixing platforms operating on the dark web since 2017, allowing users to convert their money into untraceable "Chips," which are then cashed out on "Clean" cryptocurrency addresses that can be converted to FIAT money.
A Russian national on February 7, 2023, pleaded guilty in the U.S. to money laundering charges and for attempting to conceal the source of funds obtained in connection with Ryuk ransomware attacks. "Between at least August 2018 and August 2021, Dubnikov and his co-conspirators laundered the proceeds of Ryuk ransomware attacks on individuals and organizations throughout the United States and abroad," the Department of Justice said.
Russian citizen Denis Mihaqlovic Dubnikov pleaded guilty on Tuesday to laundering money for the notorious Ryuk ransomware group for over three years. The guilty plea comes after Dubnikov was arrested in Amsterdam in November 2021 and extradited to the United States in August 2022.
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The U.S. Department of Justice arrested and charged Russian national Anatoly Legkodymov, the founder of the Hong Kong-registered cryptocurrency exchange Bitzlato, with helping cybercriminals allegedly launder illegally obtained money. Because of "Deficient know-your-customer procedures, Bitzlato allegedly became a haven for criminal proceeds and funds intended for use in criminal activity," the DOJ said.
The Dutch police arrested a 39-year-old man on suspicions of laundering tens of millions of euros worth of cryptocurrency stolen in phishing attacks. The arrest occurred in the early morning of September 6, 2022, with the police seizing devices and "Data carriers" to aid the ongoing investigations.
The U.S. Treasury Department on Monday placed sanctions against crypto mixing service Tornado Cash, citing its use by the North Korea-backed Lazarus Group in the high-profile hacks of Ethereum bridges to launder and cash out the ill-gotten money. "Despite public assurances otherwise, Tornado Cash has repeatedly failed to impose effective controls designed to stop it from laundering funds for malicious cyber actors on a regular basis and without basic measures to address its risks," Brian E. Nelson, under secretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, said.
The U.S. Department of Treasury today sanctioned cryptocurrency mixer Blender.io used last month by the North Korean-backed Lazarus hacking group to launder funds stolen from Axie Infinity's Ronin bridge. In the wake of the attack, Sky Mavis revealed that hackers breached the Ronin bridge on March 23 to steal 173,600 Ethereum and 25.5M USDC tokens in two transactions worth $617 million at the time, the largest cryptocurrency hack in history.