International money launderer sentenced to more than 11 years

A Canadian man, who helped North Korean threat actors to launder stolen funds, plead guilty to laundering tens of millions of dollars stolen in bank fraud schemes.

A Canadian man who conspired to launder tens of millions of dollars stolen bank fraud schemes has been sentenced to 140 months in prison.

The man is Ghaleb Alaumary (36), a Canadian citizen who also laundered money stolen in a massive cyberheist carried out by North Korea-linked threat actors. The list of Alaumary’s customers is long, he helped cybercriminals that stole money from victims worldwide, including BankIslami in Pakistan, a UK professional soccer club, and an Indian bank.

Prosecutors claim that the criminal activity of the money launderer caused nearly $60 million in losses.

Alaumary was also ordered to pay $30,703,946.56 in restitution to victims and to serve additional three years of supervised release after completion of his prison sentence.

In February, the U.S. Justice Department indicted three North Korean military intelligence officials, members of the Lazarus APT group, for their involvement in cyber-attacks, including the theft of $1.3 billion in money and crypto-currency from organizations around the globe.

The DOJ also charged Alaumary for helping the Lazarus Group in money laundering the illegal funds obtained through its activities.

The man operated a network of money launderers in the US and Canada that relayed the illegal funds to other accounts under the control of North Korean hackers.

According to unsealed court documents and proceedings, Alaumary and his conspirators stole money from the victims through business email compromise schemes, ATM cash-outs, and bank cyber-heists. Then the man laundered the money through bank accounts and digital currency.

“This defendant served as an integral conduit in a network of cybercriminals who siphoned tens of millions of dollars from multiple entities and institutions across the globe,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Estes. “He laundered money for a rogue nation and some of the world’s worst cybercriminals, and he managed a team of coconspirators who helped to line the pockets and digital wallets of thieves. But U.S. law enforcement, working in conjunction with its partners throughout the world, will bring to justice fraudsters who think they can hide behind a computer screen.”

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Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, Money launderer)

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