This article was originally published on VOA and translated by OKN Correspondent.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) named a pro-North Korean figure from Spain and a blockchain businessman from the United Kingdom on its Most Wanted list for violating sanctions against North Korea. It was reported that the whereabouts of the two have been identified already, and attention is being paid to whether they will be extradited to the United States. Ham Ji-ha reports.
The FBI released wanted posters for Spanish national Alejandro Cao De Benós and U.K. national Christopher Douglas Emms.
The poster for Cao De Benós published on May 18, had three photos of him and other personal information such as his date of birth (Dec. 24, 1974), height, weight, race, and more. Also, it said that he uses other aliases such as Cho Son-il and Jo Seon-il and that his occupations are businessperson and IT consultant.
Beginning in 2018, Cao de Benós, the founder of the “Korean Friendship Association,” a pro-DPRK organization, organized the “Pyongyang Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Conference” for the benefit of the DPRK, the FBI said. Cao de Benós allegedly recruited an American cryptocurrency expert to provide services to the DPRK at the conference and arranged his travel to the DPRK in April 2019 for this purpose in violation of United States sanctions. Cao de Benós was indicted along with U.S. blockchain expert Virgil Griffith, who was sentenced to over five years and fined $100,000 for conspiring to assist North Korea in evading sanctions.
The FBI said Cao de Benós is wanted for allegedly conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). Specifically, it said he conspired to violate United States sanctions on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea by working with an American citizen to illegally provide cryptocurrency and blockchain technology services to the DPRK.
“At no time did Cao de Benós, or co-conspirator Christopher Douglas Emms, obtain permission from the Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control [OFAC], to provide goods, services, or technology to the DPRK, as is required by law,” the poster stated.
The FBI also published the wanted poster for Christopher Douglas Emms, who faces similar charges. It included his personal information and details of the incidents he was involved in.
“Emms and the expert [Griffith] allegedly answered specific questions about blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies for the DPRK audience, including individuals whom they understood worked for the North Korean government, proposed plans to create specialized ‘smart contracts’ to serve the DPRK’s unique interests, and mapped out cryptocurrency transactions designed to evade and avoid United States sanctions, including by diagramming such transactions on a whiteboard for the North Korean audience,” the poster read.
The FBI advised that people with information concerning these people should contact their local FBI office or the nearest American embassy or consulate.
Cao de Benós, who is currently living in Spain, indicated that he has no intention of running away. He did not stop his social media activities such as using Twitter even after the indictment of his case was released on April 25.
On April 27, he tweeted part of his indictment and expressed his willingness to respond actively. However, Cao de Benós, who tweeted several times a day, stopped social media activities after May 16, drawing attention.
The FBI said Emms lives in the United Arab Emirates but has been in Saudi Arabia since around March.
However, British media, including The Times, reported that Emms was arrested in Saudi Arabia in February. Emms reportedly hired a lawyer to respond to prevent extradition to the United States.
Unlike Spain and Britain, Saudi Arabia does not have an extradition treaty with the United States, so it remains to be seen whether Emms will be extradited.
Spain’s Foreign Ministry responded to the VOA’s question regarding the indictment of Cao de Benós, saying that the Ministry had no comment on a third country’s legal decision. The British Foreign Ministry did not respond to VOA’s questions about Emms.
This is not the first time that the FBI has announced that it wants a suspect living abroad over North Korea sanctions violations. In April last year, the FBI released a wanted poster for a Singaporean businessman who allegedly handed over oil to North Korea. In February last year, the FBI named North Korean hackers, including Park Jin-hyuk, Kim Il, and Jeon Chang-hyuk on its wanted list.
In addition, a Singaporean businessman Tan Wee Beng, who did business with North Korea, was listed on the FBI’s wanted list.
