U.S. charges two Europeans with conspiring to help North Korea evade sanctions

Alejandro Cao de Benos of Spain and Christopher Emms of Great Britain were accused of working with the researcher, Virgil Griffith, to illegally provide cryptocurrency and blockchain technology services to North Korea. Cao de Benos, 47, and Emms, 30, could each face up to 20 years in prison for conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions, U.S. prosecutors in Manhattan said.

The U.S. Department of Justice on Monday announced the indictment of two Europeans for allegedly conspiring with a recently sentenced cryptocurrency researcher to help North Korea evade U.S. sanctions. Alejandro Cao de Benos of Spain and Christopher Emms of Great Britain were accused of working with the researcher, Virgil Griffith, to illegally provide cryptocurrency and blockchain technology services to North Korea.

Cao de Benos, 47, and Emms, 30, could each face up to 20 years in prison for conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions, U.S. prosecutors in Manhattan said. Both defendants were at large. Their lawyers could not immediately be identified.

Griffith was sentenced on April 12 to 5-1/4 years in prison after pleading guilty last September to conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions. Prosecutors said Griffith traveled to North Korea via China in April 2019 to deliver a presentation at the Pyongyang Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Conference, after being denied permission to attend by the U.S. Department of State.