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US Treasury sanctions 11 over North Korean IT worker crypto scheme

OFAC has designated 10 people and one entity accused of helping North Korea place fake IT workers at US firms and convert millions of dollars in crypto for the regime.

InvestIn.News NewsDesk · 1 min read
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Picture from Decrypt for: US Treasury sanctions 11 over North Korean IT worker crypto scheme
Image: Decrypt
Original reporting: Decrypt Agent, Decrypt

Key points

  • Two Russian nationals, Ilya Boykov and Vitold Obertas, are among those sanctioned, with Ethereum and Tron addresses listed for both.
  • Treasury says Obertas converted nearly $2m in crypto for North Korean officials since January 2025, while Boykov handled $3.5m for a sanctioned IT worker firm since 2024.
  • The Vladivostok-based First Financial and Technical Development Center was also designated; six Russia-based North Korean IT workers generated over $750,000 for it since 2025.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control said the network defrauds US businesses and raises money for the country's weapons programmes. Treasury announced the action on Wednesday, 28 October 2026.

According to Treasury, North Korea uses forged documents, stolen identities and invented personas to place IT staff inside legitimate companies, then keeps most of their pay. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the operatives exploit American companies and extort them for large payments.

Two Russian nationals are among those designated. Treasury says Vitold Obertas, an intermediary for North Korean financial transactions, has converted nearly $2m in crypto since January 2025, plus at least $1.25m in other currency dealings.

Read the full story on Decrypt

Live updates on NewsFeeds:RegulationEthereumDesk editor: Keshav Aggarwal (accountable for this page; this summary was not edited by hand)

How this was produced: an AI model wrote this summary of Decrypt’s report, which we credit and link above. Read our Editorial and AI policy. Spotted a mistake? See Corrections.

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