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FBI releases wanted posters for two men accused of aiding North Korea (working with Virgil Griffith to “illegally provide cryptocurrency and blockchain technology services to the DPRK”) (archive.ph)
submitted 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) by cypherpunks@lemmy.ml to c/korea@lemmygrad.ml
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The FBI's pages about them are here:

This post's main link goes to a archive.ph snapshot because javascript on nknews.org irritatingly blocks privacy browsers and incognito mode (even on archive.org); the original URL is https://www.nknews.org/2022/05/fbi-releases-wanted-posters-for-two-men-accused-of-aiding-north-korea/

Here is a previous lemmy thread about the sentencing of Virgil Griffith back in April: https://lemmy.ml/post/228220

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[-] OsrsNeedsF2P@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

I'm quite familiar with this case and can provide more context.

Alejandro Cao De Benos is the leader of the Korean Friendship Association, a rather significant organization that started as a fan club but is now one of the exclusive ways to get tours in North Korea, among other things.

There is ample evidence that Alejandro Cao De Benos is tight with the NK government and there is credible evidence he tried to broker an arms deal to evade international sanctions and sell North Korean made weapons.

Christopher Douglas Emms on the other hand is a high ranking member of the Korean Friendship Association. Together with Alejandro, they brought 5 or so crypto enthusiasts to North Korea, and then after they arrived, told the crypto enthusiasts they each had to make a presentation. One of the enthusiasts got side tracked and started talking about mixers, a way to conceal the true source of funds.

It is likely they honestly wanted to just bring some crypto experts in and didn't expect it to be a big deal, and the reality is the information these enthusiasts gave DPRK is insignificant. However, it really was just the straw that broke the camel's back and allowed the FBI to rain down harsh charges against the indisputable evidence.

To summarize, these two were stirring the pot long before the crypto thing happened.

[-] sovietsnake@lemmygrad.ml 1 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Alejandro is a communist and therefore he is sympathetic to the DPRK's cause, if you think this is stirring the pot then you might as well murder every single member of a communist party. The IEEPA is a law used to legalize the prosecution of the imperial core's enemies, trying to avoid the unjust and horrid sanctions on the DPRK shouldn't be something that ruins people's lives.

this post was submitted on 03 Jun 2022
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