The criminal was arrested and immediately released on bail, are the charges against him justified?
Alejandro Cao de Benos, a Spaniard from an aristocratic family who has become one of the most vocal supporters of North Korea in the West, was recently arrested in Spain. De Benos founded the Korea Friendship Association and was active in supporting Kim Jong Un's regime.
He was detained at a train station in Madrid, according to local law enforcement. The statement calls him a "fugitive". It is not denied that De Benos may have used false documents.
The arrest is related to fraud charges brought by the United States in April 2022. In 2019, De Benos reportedly participated in organizing a dubious kind of crypto conference in Pyongyang.
Along with De Benos, the US also charges British citizen Christopher Emms and American Virgil Griffith. All three, according to the US Department of Justice, were conspiring to violate US sanctions against the DPRK.
Western participants in the conference reportedly instructed North Korean officials on how to use cryptocurrencies to circumvent bank restrictions and launder funds. De Benos and his associates allegedly even planned to create a crypto infrastructure inside North Korea.
In social networks, De Benos, who, according to him, is released on bail, has already declared his innocence. He believes that the charges were fabricated in order to get him extradited to the United States. According to De Benos, Spain cannot extradite him only for violating US sanctions, which is why additional charges of fraud were brought.
In general, as much as De Benos denies the charges, they may turn out to be quite wealthy. North Korea has been repeatedly accused of stealing billions of dollars in cryptocurrency to finance its nuclear program. The UN Security Council has already adopted numerous resolutions aimed at combating Pyongyang's development of weapons of mass destruction.
However, North Korea has consistently denied involvement in cyber espionage and cryptocurrency theft, despite evidence presented by UN experts and US prosecutors.
In 2021, the US Department of Justice accused three hackers from North Korea of stealing and extorting more than $ 1.3 billion from financial organizations and crypto exchanges around the world. According to investigators, they worked for North Korea's military intelligence and were involved in many cyber attacks, including the hacking of Sony Pictures and the distribution of the WannaCry ransomware.
Then Assistant US Attorney General John Demers said: "North Korean hackers, using not weapons, but keyboards, steal not bags of money, but digital wallets with cryptocurrency. The regime has become a flagged criminal syndicate that uses state resources to steal hundreds of millions of dollars.
In May of this year, the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions against four organizations that allegedly employ thousands of hackers from North Korea. According to the US authorities, they also generate revenue to finance Pyongyang's nuclear missile program.
Alejandro Cao de Benos, a Spaniard from an aristocratic family who has become one of the most vocal supporters of North Korea in the West, was recently arrested in Spain. De Benos founded the Korea Friendship Association and was active in supporting Kim Jong Un's regime.
He was detained at a train station in Madrid, according to local law enforcement. The statement calls him a "fugitive". It is not denied that De Benos may have used false documents.
The arrest is related to fraud charges brought by the United States in April 2022. In 2019, De Benos reportedly participated in organizing a dubious kind of crypto conference in Pyongyang.
Along with De Benos, the US also charges British citizen Christopher Emms and American Virgil Griffith. All three, according to the US Department of Justice, were conspiring to violate US sanctions against the DPRK.
Western participants in the conference reportedly instructed North Korean officials on how to use cryptocurrencies to circumvent bank restrictions and launder funds. De Benos and his associates allegedly even planned to create a crypto infrastructure inside North Korea.
In social networks, De Benos, who, according to him, is released on bail, has already declared his innocence. He believes that the charges were fabricated in order to get him extradited to the United States. According to De Benos, Spain cannot extradite him only for violating US sanctions, which is why additional charges of fraud were brought.
In general, as much as De Benos denies the charges, they may turn out to be quite wealthy. North Korea has been repeatedly accused of stealing billions of dollars in cryptocurrency to finance its nuclear program. The UN Security Council has already adopted numerous resolutions aimed at combating Pyongyang's development of weapons of mass destruction.
However, North Korea has consistently denied involvement in cyber espionage and cryptocurrency theft, despite evidence presented by UN experts and US prosecutors.
In 2021, the US Department of Justice accused three hackers from North Korea of stealing and extorting more than $ 1.3 billion from financial organizations and crypto exchanges around the world. According to investigators, they worked for North Korea's military intelligence and were involved in many cyber attacks, including the hacking of Sony Pictures and the distribution of the WannaCry ransomware.
Then Assistant US Attorney General John Demers said: "North Korean hackers, using not weapons, but keyboards, steal not bags of money, but digital wallets with cryptocurrency. The regime has become a flagged criminal syndicate that uses state resources to steal hundreds of millions of dollars.
In May of this year, the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions against four organizations that allegedly employ thousands of hackers from North Korea. According to the US authorities, they also generate revenue to finance Pyongyang's nuclear missile program.
