"VIRGIL GRIFFITH, a US citizen, pled guilty to conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act by providing services to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea including technical advice on using cryptocurrency and blockchain technology to evade sanctions," the Justice Department said in a press release.
The release said Griffith is a cryptocurrency expert and as early as 2018 worked to provide services to individuals in North Korea by developing and funding cryptocurrency infrastructure in the country for the purpose of evading US sanctions.
Griffith, who lived in Singapore, traveled to North Korea in 2019 despite the US Department of State denying him permission to travel to the country, the release said. While in North Korea, Griffith attended a conference in Pyongyang to provide instruction on how North Korea could use cryptocurrency and blockchain technology to launder money and avoid US sanctions, the release said.
Griffith will be sentenced on January 18, 2022, the release said.