Treasury sanctions 11 over North Korea's IT worker schemes, including two Russians who moved more than $5 million in crypto

The US Treasury has gone after the people who turn North Korea's remote IT work into cash. Its Office of Foreign Assets Control on Wednesday sanctioned 10 individuals and one entity linked to schemes in which North Korean IT workers defraud US businesses, with the money going to the country's weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programmes.

Two Russians are among those named. Treasury says Ilya Boykov carried out the equivalent of $3.5 million in cryptocurrency transactions since 2024 for Alis, a North Korean IT worker company sanctioned in 2024, and that Vitold Obertas made nearly $2 million in crypto conversions and at least $1.25 million in other currency transactions since January 2025. Kim Ki Hyok, who leads a Russia-based delegation of North Korean IT workers, is said to have moved nearly $500,000 in crypto since 2024.

The list also includes First Financial and Technical Development Center, a North Korean-controlled entity in Russia, and six Russia-based IT workers tied to it who Treasury says generated more than $750,000 since 2025. "The North Korean regime continues targeting and exploiting American companies," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. The release says the networks use artificial intelligence tools, and that Australia and the EU also designated people supporting North Korea's revenue generation this month.