U.S. court orders seizure of $212K crypto tied to North Korean IT workers

A U.S. federal court has ordered the forfeiture of roughly $212,700 in stablecoins linked to wages earned by North Korean IT workers, giving the Justice Department a partial victory in its attempt to seize more than $7.74 million in digital assets tied to an alleged sanctions evasion network. Summary A U.S. judge ordered the forfeiture of roughly $212,700 in USDC and USDT linked to wages earned by North Korean IT workers. The seized wallet held 158,123 USDC and 54,574 USDT that prosecutors traced to payment addresses used by at least 14 workers. The ruling covers part of a Justice Department case seeking the forfeiture of more than $7.74 million in crypto tied to North Korean overseas workers. The court rejected forfeiture of other crypto assets because prosecutors had not adequately identified them, leaving the government able to seek them again. NK News reported on Sept. 7 that U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras ruled that funds seized from a crypto wallet beginning with “0x81c4” should be forfeited to the U.S. government. The Sept. 3 ruling granted part of the Justice Department’s request for default judgment while rejecting its attempt to immediately take control of other as...