British citizen who helped North Korea evade US sanctions via crypto arrested in Moscow

British citizen who helped North Korea evade US sanctions via crypto arrested in Moscow

Feb. 21, 2023 at 10:46 pm

By Assad Jafri

Christopher Emms has been on the FBI's international wanted list for a number of years for his role in illegally providing cryptocurrency and blockchain services to North Korea.

British national Christopher Douglas Emms — wanted by the FBI for allegedly helping the North Korean government evade U.S. sanctions via crypto — was arrested in Moscow by the Russian bureau of Interpol on Feb. 21, according to local media reports.

Emms has been on the FBI’s international wanted list for a number of years for his role in illegally providing cryptocurrency and blockchain services to the Democratic Republic of North Korea (DPRK) alongside American citizen Virgil Griffith and Spanish national Alejandro Cao de Benós.

Emms won an extradition case against the U.S. in 2022 after being detained in Saudi Arabia for eight months. After Saudi Arabia rejected the U.S. government’s extradition request, Emms left the middle eastern country and moved to Russia, where he was offered residency.

At the time, Emms’ representative Radha Stirling — the chief executive of Due Process International — said he moved to Russia as the country would not extradite him and he’d be “100%” safe” there. The sentiment is not uncommon considering Russia’s own battle with U.S. sanctions and its history of refusing such requests.

Emms has denied all charges. It is currently unclear whether Russia will extradite him to the U.S.