US Says Cryptocurrency Expert Violated NKorea Sanctions

Federal prosecutors have charged a cryptocurrency expert with violating economic sanctions against North Korea by presenting at a conference there this year after the U.S. government denied his request to travel to Pyongyang.

Virgil Griffith, 36, was awaiting a federal court appearance in Los Angeles, a day after he was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport.

Griffith is an American citizen but lives in Singapore. Messages were sent to Griffith’s defense attorney seeking comment.

Federal prosecutors said Griffith secured a visa through “a (North Korean) diplomatic mission facility” in Manhattan for 100 euros and then traveled to the country through China in April.

A request for comment was sent to North Korea’s United Nations mission in New York.

At the conference, Griffith talked about how North Korea could use cryptocurrency to “achieve independence from the global banking system,” according to a criminal complaint.

The conference was attended by 100 people, prosecutors said, including several who appeared to work for the North Korean government.

The criminal complaint says Griffith showed the FBI photographs of himself in North Korea and provided agents with propaganda from the country. It said Griffith planned to facilitate the exchange of cryptocurrency between North and South Korea and encouraged other U.S. citizens to attend the same conference next year.

“Griffith announced his intention to renounce his U.S. citizenship and began researching how to purchase citizenship from other countries,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan said in a news release.