Spaniard Alejandro Cao de Benos arrested for blockchain conference for North Koreans

[Brother]

A Spanish citizen has been arrested in his homeland for organizing a conference on blockchain and cryptocurrencies in North Korea. The event can help North Korea evade sanctions, law enforcement officials are sure.

Alejandro Cao de Benos was arrested at the Madrid-Puerta de Atocha train station. According to the US Department of Justice, in April 2019, Benos demonstrated to North Korean officials how the state can use the latest technologies to launder money and evade international sanctions. Prior to his arrest, the Spaniard was on the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) most wanted list for more than a year and was hiding in Barcelona under an assumed name.

A supporter of the North Korean regime, Benos founded the Korea Friendship Association in 2000, and has also appeared in documentaries about the DPRK. The US Justice Department claims that the Spaniard started planning a blockchain conference in North Korea back in 2018. Among the participants was former Ethereum developer Virgil Griffith, who was also arrested for participating in the event. Back in 2022, the court sentenced Griffith to five years in prison and ordered him to pay a fine of $100,000.

On Friday, December 1, Benos appeared before the Spanish High Court. He denied the accusations of the US prosecutor's office, calling the claims false. The man faces up to 20 years in an American prison, but the United States has not yet begun the extradition process.

 

[Father]

The lawyer of former Ethereum developer Virgil Griffith sent a petition to the judge of the District Court of the Southern District of New York, Kevin Castel, demanding a reduced sentence for his client.

A letter from lawyer Glen Garrett Mcgorty, who is defending Virgil Griffith, asks for a review of the verdict. We are talking about the recently adopted amendments to the sentencing guidelines in the United States, which provide for a two-point reduction in the level of offenses for "zero-point" defendants. These are people who have committed a nonviolent offense for the first time, and who, according to certain criteria, are less likely to commit a second offense in the future.

These amendments will reduce Griffith's overall offense rate from 26 to 24, which makes it possible to reduce his prison sentence to at least 51 months. The lawyer therefore asked the judge to order law enforcement to review the investigation report before sentencing, schedule a retrial, and prepare a schedule of briefings so that Griffith's defense can provide updated information and arguments for its request for a reduced sentence.

In April 2022, Virgil Griffith was sentenced to 63 months in prison and fined $100,000. He pleaded guilty to violating sanctions laws. Griffith was convicted for attending a conference in North Korea where he talked about blockchain and cryptocurrencies. The U.S. government alleges that Griffith helped North Korea use blockchain technology despite economic sanctions imposed by the United States.

In May 2023, the U.S. Department of Commerce also imposed a 10-year ban on Griffith's export activities. This means that it is prohibited from engaging in any transactions involving goods, software, or technology that are subject to U.S. export regulations.

In December 2023, Spanish police, at the request of the US Department of Justice, arrested another participant in that North Korean conference — a Spanish citizen, Alejandro Cao de Benos. The man faces up to 20 years in prison in the United States.