The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned 10 people and one entity for supporting North Korean government-run IT worker schemes. Treasury said the schemes funded North Korea’s weapons programs. The source gives no calendar date for the sanctions.
Those sanctioned included Russian nationals Ilya Aleksandrovich Boykov and Vitold Viktorovich Obertas. Treasury said Boykov had converted about $3.5 million in cryptocurrency for sanctioned company Alis since 2024, while Obertas had handled nearly $2 million in conversions for North Korean officials since January 2025. Chainalysis reported that, in one case it traced, funds from a wallet linked to a North Korean IT worker reached Boykov, who sent the cryptocurrency to Russian exchange Garantex to cash out.
