- Ghaleb Alaumary has been sentenced to 11 years in prison in the U.S. on money laundering charges
- The Canadian laundered money for North Korean crypto hackers and scammers
- Alaumary also helped launder money stolen from international banks, companies and universities
A Canadian man who helped North Korean hackers launder millions of dollars has been handed an 11-year jail sentence. Ontario-based Ghaleb Alaumary, who holds dual US-Canadian citizenship, conspired to launder tens of millions of dollars stolen in various wire and bank fraud schemes, including a huge online bank theft by North Korean cyber criminals. Alaumary carried out money laundering activities himself, including converting stolen cash into cryptocurrencies, and also recruited others to assist him. His clients included three North Korean military officials, who U.S. authorities accused of attempting to steal more than $1.3 billion in cryptocurrency hacks and more.
Alaumary Helped North Korean Cryptocurrency Hackers
Alaumary was arrested in February having assisted in the laundering of funds stolen from companies, universities, and banks worldwide on behalf of different clients in a series of schemes. His clients included the North Korean military officials and some of the world’s worst cybercriminals, managing a team of co-conspirators who helped line the pockets and digital wallets of thieves.
The three North Koreans, who were indicted at the same time as Alaumary was arrested, raised money through hacking cryptocurrency exchanges and running fraudulent cloud mining services and scam ICOs, funds that Alaumary would launder and hand back to them.
$30 Million in Restitution Demanded
Alaumary pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit money laundering, one involving a $10 million email scam that targeted MacEwan University and the second bigger operation related to his recruitment of third parties to help facilitate the receipt and transfer of stolen funds. As part of his sentence, Alaumary is also required to pay more than $30 million in restitution to victims.
