US Moves To Recover $2.6 Million In Crypto Stolen By North Korea’s Lazarus Group
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The U.S. government filed a legal complaint against North Korea’s hacking collective, the Lazarus Group, on Monday to recover $2.6 million in stolen cryptocurrency, according to a court filing.
The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, outlines the government’s efforts to reclaim funds linked to cyberattacks orchestrated by the state-sponsored group.
The court filing seeks $1.7 million worth of Tether (USDT) connected to the November 2022 Derbit hack, which saw $28 million drained from the Panamanian exchange.
Additionally, federal officials are looking to recover $971,000 in Avalanche-bridged Bitcoin, stolen in the Lazarus Group’s September 2023 hack of a digital casino that wiped out $41 million from the online sportsbook.
This legal action represents the latest attempt by the U.S. government to disrupt the activities of the Lazarus Group, a hacking entity that has played a key role in funding North Korea’s military ambitions through its series of cyberattacks targeting the digital asset sector.
As part of its ongoing efforts to curb the Lazarus Group’s cyber activities, the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on Tornado Cash in November, labeling it a “key money laundering tool” for the hacking collective.
“Mixing services that enable criminal actors, such as the Lazarus Group, to launder stolen assets will face serious consequences,” Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo stated at the time.
A report from a United Nations panel of experts published in March highlighted that up to 40% of
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