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Brit wanted by US to advise North Korea on crypto arrested in Russia – Bitcoin News
A British national wanted on an Interpol red alert for consulting North Korea on cryptocurrencies has been detained in Moscow. US authorities claim the man helped the regime in Pyongyang circumvent sanctions by using digital assets.
British citizen wanted by US for violating North Korea sanctions arrested at Moscow hostel
The Russian Interpol agency has arrested a British man wanted by Interpol at the request of the United States, the Russian Telegram channel Baza revealed. Authorities in the United States claim that he helped North Koreans try to circumvent sanctions by using crypto.
31-year-old Christopher Emms, who is accused of committing fraud against the US authorities, was detained at the hostel where he lived. The International Criminal Police Organization issued a “red notice” arrest warrant for him at the beginning of February. Its announcement details:
Christopher Douglas Emms is wanted for allegedly conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
More specifically, he conspired to violate US sanctions against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) by working with a US citizen to illegally provide cryptocurrency and blockchain technology services to the DPRK.
In early 2018, Emms, who is a crypto businessman, planned and organized the “Pyongyang Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Conference,” the agency explained. He also recruited a cryptocurrency expert from the US and arranged to travel to the country in April 2019 for the event.
Both answered questions about blockchain and crypto technologies from the North Korean audience, including people working for the government in Pyongyang. They also proposed plans to create smart contracts for the DPRK and charted crypto transactions designed to avoid US sanctions.
Despite Emms taking steps to conceal their activity, the American crypto expert was arrested in November 2019, disrupting the scheme. The Briton and his co-conspirator Alejandro Cao de Benós, a Spanish political activist with close ties to North Korea, never received permission from the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to provide services to the DPRK, as required by US law.
A federal arrest warrant was issued for Christopher Emms in the United States District Court, Southern District of New York, on January 27, 2022, after the British national was charged with conspiracy to violate the IEEPA.
Interpol also said that Emms is known to have been a resident of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and had been to Saudi Arabia in or around March 2022. He also had various business interests in several jurisdictions, including the UAE, Malta, Gibraltar and in worldwide. Europe. Baza noted that he apparently decided to wait out the turbulent times in Russia where he is now under arrest.
North Korea is believed to have stolen record amounts of cryptocurrency last year, according to a draft UN report. An estimate cited by the authors, independent sanctions monitors, suggests that the total value of the virtual assets obtained by hackers linked to the DPRK in 2022 will be greater than in any previous year and exceed $1 billion.
Do you think Russia will extradite Christopher Emms to the US? Share your thoughts on the matter in the comments section below.
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