The U.S. Department of Justice seeks to forfeit $15.1 million USDT stolen by North Korean hackers

BlockBeats News, November 16, according to TheBlock, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed two civil forfeiture complaints on Friday, seeking to confiscate $15.1 million worth of USDT stolen by North Korean hackers in 2023. These seized cryptocurrencies can be traced back to the North Korean military hacker group "Advanced Persistent Threat 38" (APT38), which carried out thefts targeting four overseas virtual currency platforms in 2023. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) seized these funds in March 2025 and is currently seeking court approval to forfeit these assets in order to return them to the victims.

Efforts to trace, seize, and forfeit the related stolen virtual currencies are ongoing, as APT38 members continue to launder funds through various virtual currency bridges, mixers, trading platforms, and over-the-counter dealers. The DOJ also announced on Friday that it has obtained guilty pleas from four U.S. citizens and one Ukrainian national, who admitted to assisting North Korean IT workers in fraudulently obtaining employment at U.S. companies by providing stolen identities and hosting company laptops at their homes, in order to create the false impression that these workers were located in the United States.