[U.S. Department of Justice Pursues North Korean Criminals for Fake IT Jobs and Cryptocurrency Theft, Seizes $15 Million USDT] According to a report by Coindesk, prosecutors and investigators from the U.S. Department of Justice have seized $15 million worth of USDT in their ongoing pursuit of North Korean criminals, with five defendants pleading guilty. Court documents related to the plea agreements reveal that intermediaries from the U.S. and Ukraine assisted North Korean individuals in obtaining remote IT jobs at U.S. companies. For instance, these intermediaries used fake identities or stolen identity information and placed laptops provided by victim companies in residences across the U.S. to create the illusion that the IT workers were based in the U.S. These fraudulent employment schemes affected more than 136 U.S. victim companies, generated over $2.2 million in revenue for the North Korean regime, and led to the compromise of the identity information of more than 18 U.S. citizens. Additionally, a North Korean military hacking group known as 'Advanced Persistent Threat 38' (APT38), referred to as APT38 in the private sector, carried out multimillion-dollar cryptocurrency thefts on four overseas virtual currency platforms in 2023. While APT38 members continued laundering the stolen funds, the U.S. government froze and seized over $15 million worth of cryptocurrency and is currently seeking to forfeit these assets to eventually return them to their rightful owners. North Korea has used these two schemes to raise funds for its weapons programs and other priorities, in violation of sanctions regulations.