US court orders $212,700 crypto forfeiture
- A US federal court has ordered the forfeiture of about $212,700 in stablecoins linked to North Korean IT workers.
- The funds came from a wallet holding 158,123 USDC and 54,574 USDT.
- The ruling covers part of a wider $7.74 million crypto forfeiture case.
A US federal court has ordered the forfeiture of about $212,700 in stablecoins linked to North Korean IT workers.
The seized wallet held 158,123 USD Coin (CRYPTO:USDC) and 54,574 Tether (CRYPTO:USDT) linked to worker payment addresses.
The ruling covers part of a wider US Justice Department case seeking more than $7.74 million in crypto and other digital assets.
US District Judge Rudolph Contreras found prosecutors had provided enough information to link the wallet to the alleged operation.
The government alleges North Korean workers concealed their identities while taking overseas IT jobs and routing earnings through crypto.
The court found the seized funds were proceeds linked to alleged wire fraud and money laundering violations involving sanctioned individuals.
Contreras rejected forfeiture of other assets because prosecutors had not adequately identified them, allowing the government to seek them again.
