According to the Norwegian National Authority of Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime (Økokrim), this seizure is the largest-ever cryptocurrency-related money seizure ever made by Norway.
"Økokrim are experts at following the money. This case shows that we are also good at following the money on the blockchain even though criminals use advanced techniques to avoid detection," says Marianne Bender, a senior public prosecutor.
The firm added that that it would work in collaboration with Sky Mavis, owner of Axie Infinity game in order to get the funds back to its victims.
Axie Infinity gives players the chance to win Ethereum. Its "flagship offering," according to Sky Mavis, is the "#1 game on Ethereum by daily, weekly, and monthly active players.
Attackers who had access to five out of the nine private keys used by the transaction validators for Ronin Network, the Ethereum-based DeFi decentralized finance platform utilized by Sky Mavis, were able to steal $620 million in March 2022. The game, publisher describes its Ronin side chain as "a tool that allows game developers to deliver the benefits of blockchain to their players without any of the complications.
"Upon gaining access to the organization, the attackers approved cryptocurrency transactions and started promptly transferring the funds through the Ethereum-based cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash, which is currently the target of US sanctions. In September 2022, around $30 million worth of illicit proceeds were discovered and seized by US officials.
The FBI and Økokrim allegedly collaborated to recover an additional $5.9 million. "This is money that can be used to finance the North Korean regime and their nuclear weapons program. It has therefore been important to trace the cryptocurrency and try to stop the assets from being converted into regular currency," explained Bender.
More Crypto Comeuppance
Cryptocurrency thieves with ties to the Korean peninsula had a tough day on Thursday. The same day, Terraform Labs and its wanted fugitive chief, South Korean national Do Kwon, were accused of scamming investors by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
"We allege that Terraform and Do Kwon failed to provide the public with full, fair, and truthful disclosure as required for a host of crypto asset securities, most notably for LUNA and Terra USD[…]We also allege that they committed fraud by repeating false and misleading statements to build trust before causing devastating losses for investors," says SEC chairman Gary Gensler.
Moreover, the collapse of Terraform Labs' TerraUSD “stablecoin” and linked “Luna” tokens sparked the so called “crypto winter.” Since the cryptocurrency's value was tied to the US dollar, the crash was portrayed as being impossibly unlikely. But, that was not the case, and as a result, a lot of investors lost a loads of money.
Apparently, Kwon has fled with the last known address in Singapore. While, the city-state claims he left the island in September 2022. His passport was revoked by the South Korean government and he has since been added to Interpol's Red Notice list.
While this is going on, Terraform Labs continues announcing new findings as if it had not nearly brought about the end of the world. With its TerraLuna ecosystem, it introduced a decentralized automation layer function yesterday.