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US sanctions fraud network used Zack Whittaker AM PDT · August 27, 2025 The U.S. Treasury has sanctioned an international fraud network used

The sanctions are the latest action taken

In a statement Wednesday, the Treasury said the fraud network generated at least $1 million in profits for the North Korean regime, one of many such schemes that have helped raise billions of dollars in stolen funds, including cryptocurrency, to fund its internationally sanctioned nuclear weapons program.

As part of its latest round of enforcement, the Treasury sanctioned Vitaliy Sergeyevich Andreyev, a Russian national accused of working with the North Koreans to facilitate payments to a company called Chinyong. The Treasury, which sanctioned Chinyong in 2024, says the company employs delegations of fraudulent IT workers based in Russia and Laos.

The U.S. says Andreyev worked with a North Korean consular official based in Russia called Kim Ung Sun to launder close to $600,000 in stolen money into cryptocurrency for the regime.

The Treasury sanctioned Shenyang Geumpungri, a Chinese company that the U.S. says also employs fraudulent IT workers on behalf of the North Korean government, as well as Sinjin, another North Korean front company for the IT workers’ scheme.

This is the latest round of sanctions targeting North Korea, as well as the U.S.-based facilitators who help support the North Korean’s sprawling money-stealing schemes. North Korea remains highly dedicated to stealing money and converting it into cryptocurrency to skirt the country’s ban on accessing the global financial system. 

While the scheme is not new, North Koreans are increasingly effective at getting jobs at U.S. and other Western companies.

Security researchers in the past couple of years began raising the alarm about the North Korean IT workers’ schemes. Security firm CrowdStrike says North Korean hackers have infiltrated hundreds of companies in the United States alone

The new sanctions mean U.S. companies, or any company doing business with a U.S. company, are barred from transacting or working with those listed

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Zack Whittaker Security Editor

Zack Whittaker is the security editor at TechCrunch. He can be reached via encrypted message at zackwhittaker.1337 on Signal. You can also contact him

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