Treasury sanctions North Korean money laundering network

Dec. 17 (UPI) -- The Treasury Department on Tuesday sanctioned two individuals, and one entity involved with illegally funneling millions of dollars to North Korea's information technology workers and cybercrime.

Lu Huaying and Zhang Jian, who are based in the United Arab Emirates, worked through a locally based front company to launder cyryptocurrency conversion services that funneled proceeds back to North Korea.

The network is led by previously sanctioned Sim Hyon Sop, a China-based bank representing North Korea, and organizes laundering schemes for the government. The Treasury said North Korea uses the funds to bolster its weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs.

"As [North Korea] continues to use complex criminal schemes to fund its WMD and ballistic missile programs -- including through the exploitation of digital assets -- Treasury remains focused on disruptive the networks that facilities his flow of funds to the regime," Bradley Smith, acting under-secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement.

"The United States, along with the UAE and our other partners, will continue to target the financial networks that enable the Kim regime's destabilizing activities."

UAE-based Green Alpine Trading, which is being sanctioned, has acted as a key money laundering network for North Korea. It has provided financial, material, technological, and other support for goods and services in support of Sim and North Korea.