U.S. Department of Justice Initiates Civil Forfeiture Proceedings
In a significant legal maneuver, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has initiated civil forfeiture proceedings aimed at recovering approximately $15.1 million in Tether (USDT), which was illicitly acquired by North Korean hackers this year. This move, disclosed on Friday, is part of an ongoing effort to bring to justice the perpetrators associated with the hacking group known as the Lazarus Group, or Advanced Persistent Threat 38 (APT38). This notorious group has been linked to a series of thefts targeting multiple cryptocurrency exchanges nationwide in 2023.
FBI’s Role in Asset Recovery
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which successfully froze these assets in March 2025, is now seeking legal authorization to formally confiscate the funds with the intention of returning them to the rightful victims. The probe into the laundering activities of APT38 continues, as its operatives are reportedly using an array of cryptocurrency mixers, tumblers, various exchanges, and over-the-counter brokers to obscure the origins of the stolen funds.
Guilty Pleas from Individuals Aiding North Korean Hackers
In a related development, the DOJ revealed on the same day that it has secured guilty pleas from four American individuals along with one from Ukraine. These individuals confessed to aiding North Korean IT personnel in obtaining jobs within U.S. firms by employing stolen identities and allowing these employees to use laptops hosted at their residences, thus misleading companies into believing that these workers were operating from within the United States.
