Latest news with #Pyongyang-backed
Straits Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Straits Times
US jury deadlocks on Tornado Cash founder's money laundering charge
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox NEW YORK, August 6 - A U.S. jury deadlocked on Wednesday on money laundering and sanctions evasion charges against the founder of Tornado Cash, a firm that makes cryptocurrency transactions harder to track. The jury in Manhattan federal court could not reach a verdict on charges Roman Storm conspired to launder the proceeds of hacks, including by a sanctioned North Korean government-backed group. But the jury found him guilty of the less serious charge of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business. He faces up to five years in prison when he is sentenced by U.S. District Judge Katherine Failla at a later date. The money laundering and sanctions evasion conspiracy charges each carried possible 20-year sentences. Storm was arrested in 2023 on charges that the so-called mixer he founded helped hide more than $1 billion, including hundreds of millions of dollars for Pyongyang-backed hacking group Lazarus Group, which is blacklisted by the U.S. Treasury over its alleged financial support of North Korea. Storm, 36, had pleaded not guilty to all three felony charges he faced. In his closing argument on July 30 after a two-week trial in Manhattan federal court, defense lawyer David Patton said even though Tornado Cash's privacy tools may have been useful to criminals, Storm's intent was not to help conceal illicit funds. "There is nothing unlawful about the software that he built," Patton said. "The evidence here shows that Roman very much did not want hackers and scammers to use Tornado Cash." Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore MRT track issue causes 5-hour delay; Jeffrey Siow says 'we can and will do better' Singapore ST Explains: What is a track point fault and why does it cause lengthy train disruptions? Singapore Three people taken to hospital after fire in Punggol executive condominium Singapore Elderly man found dead in SingPost Centre stairwell could have been in confused state: Coroner Singapore 81 primary schools to hold ballot for Phase 2C of Primary 1 registration Singapore S'pore and Indonesia have discussed jointly developing military training facilities: Chan Chun Sing Singapore Two workers died after being hit by flying gas cylinders in separate incidents in 2025 Sport Young Lions and distance runner Soh Rui Yong out of SEA Games contingent Prosecutor Benjamin Gianforti said Storm had been informed multiple times between 2020 and 2022 that Tornado Cash was helping criminals hide dirty money, but kept running the business out of greed. Gianforti said Tornado Cash's emphasis on user privacy was a "cover story." "The real money wasn't in protecting privacy for regular folks, it was in providing privacy for big time crypto criminals," Gianforti said. "Hackers were his best customers." Tornado Cash had itself been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury under then-President Joe Biden's Democratic administration over its alleged support of North Korea. The Treasury lifted those sanctions in March, two months into Republican President Donald Trump's administration, saying it had reviewed legal and policy issues raised by the sanctions within "evolving technology and legal environments." Last year, one of Tornado Cash's developers, Alexey Pertsev, was sentenced to five years and four months in prison in the Netherlands for money laundering. REUTERS
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
North Korea launches strategic cruise missiles in show of nuclear deterrence
SEOUL, Feb. 28 (UPI) -- North Korea test-fired strategic cruise missiles into the Yellow Sea in a demonstration of Pyongyang's nuclear deterrent capabilities, state-run media said Friday. The missiles were launched from the western area of the country on Wednesday morning, Korean Central News Agency reported, and "precisely hit the targets" after flying for around 130 minutes along a 986-mile oval trajectory. "The purpose of the launching drill was to let the enemies, who are fostering and escalating the confrontation environment ... know the [Korean People's Army]'s counterattack capability in any space and the readiness of its various nuke operation means," the KCNA report said. Pyongyang uses the term "strategic" to indicate that missiles are nuclear-capable. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the drill and expressed satisfaction, the report said. "Continuously testing the reliability and operability of the components of nuclear deterrent of the DPRK and demonstrating their power is itself a responsible exercise of its war deterrent," Kim said, using the official acronym for North Korea. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said Friday that the military had detected preparations for the launch on Wednesday and tracked several missiles fired at around 8:00 a.m. "The detailed specifications are being precisely analyzed by South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities," the JCS said in a text message to reporters. "Our military is closely monitoring various North Korean trends under a firm South Korea-U.S. defense posture." The launch was North Korea's fourth of the year and second since the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump. Pyongyang tested a cruise missile system on Jan. 25, just days after Trump returned to office for a second time. North Korea has maintained a belligerent tone toward the United States, despite speculation that Trump may look to revive nuclear negotiations with Kim. During Trump's first term, the two leaders held a pair of high-profile summits and met briefly a third time at the DMZ. The diplomatic outreach failed to result in a nuclear deal, however, and Pyongyang has accelerated the development of its weapons programs in the intervening years. Last week, North Korea's Foreign Ministry rejected Washington's "absurd and outdated" call for denuclearization, saying that the country would stick to Kim Jong Un's goal of building up its nuclear forces. Despite facing punishing international sanctions, the North has been able to fund its weapons programs through increasingly sophisticated hacking and cybercrime activities. On Thursday, the FBI confirmed that Pyongyang-backed hacker group Lazarus was behind the theft of $1.5 billion in virtual assets from cryptocurrency exchange Bybit. North Korea is also using growing military ties with Russia to obtain hard currency and technical help with its weapons programs. Pyongyang has supplied munitions and some 12,000 troops to aid Moscow in its war against Ukraine, according to the United States. Seoul's spy agency said Thursday that the North recently deployed additional soldiers to Russia, with some headed to the frontlines in Kursk, where they have suffered heavy casualties. Wednesday's cruise missile launch comes ahead of the annual U.S.-South Korea Freedom Shield springtime joint military exercise, scheduled to begin in March. Pyongyang regularly condemns the allies' joint drills as rehearsals for an invasion.
