Tag: Interpol

A British National Charged With Aiding North Korea in Violating US sanctions

by Blockchain News

A citizen of the United Kingdom who was wanted by the Department of Justice in the United States was apprehended by the Interpol office in Moscow (DoJ). The guy is suspected of participating in a plot to circumvent the restrictions imposed by the United States on North Korea.

Christopher Emms was taken into custody on February 21 in Moscow on the basis of a “red alert” issued by Interpol, as reported by the local media. The British national, who was 31 years old, was taken into custody at the hostel where he was sleeping.

In April 2022, it is believed that Emms, together with a citizen of Spain named Alejandro Cao De Benos, supplied North Korea with instructions on how it might utilize blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies to escape sanctions and wash dirty money. The 2019 Pyongyang Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Conference was both planned and coordinated by the two individuals.

Virgil Griffith, a person who once worked on the Ethereum project, is the third person involved in the plot. In November of 2019, he was taken into custody by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and after entering a guilty plea, he was given a sentence of 63 months in jail. If found guilty on one count of conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, Emms faces a possible maximum sentence of 20 years in jail.

Previously, Radha Stirling, the founder of Due Process International, which is a nongovernmental organization that helps defend human rights in the face of international enforcement agencies, stated that there was no strong evidence against Emms: “Precisely because he did nothing wrong; he provided no information to North Korea that doesn’t already appear on the first page of Google.”

After an eight-month travel restriction, Emms was finally free to leave Saudi Arabia in September 2022, after Saudi Arabia had rejected the American extradition request on the grounds that it had a legal foundation. He didn’t waste any time getting out of the country and went straight to Russia. However, despite the fact that the nation was the focus of the Department of Justice’s attempts to implement financial sanctions in the cryptocurrency industry, the local authorities made the decision to assist their American colleagues.

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INTERPOL Creates a Global Police Force in the Metaverse to Combat Digital Crimes

by Blockchain News

The International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) which has its headquarters in Lyon, France has established a police metaverse unit that is expected to function worldwide.

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The news was announced in a press statement made at the 90th INTERPOL General Assembly in New Delhi, India.

 

The metaverse is expected to run via the INTERPOL Secure Clouds so as to guarantee its objectivity. 

 

The INTERPOL platform will enable registered persons to interact with other officers via their avatars persona, explore a virtual replica of the INTERPOL headquarters in Lyon, France, without regard to the user’s physical location, and even enroll in advanced training programs in forensic analysis and other policing skills when it fully begins its operations.

 

Law enforcement agencies can benefit from the metaverse in a variety of ways, including remote work, networking, gathering and preserving evidence from crime scenes, and providing training.

 

As the Metaverse’s user population increases and technology improves, there will undoubtedly be more crimes that might be committed, including crimes against children, data theft, money laundering, financial fraud, phishing, and harassment. These crimes could pose a challenge to law enforcement agents because not all crimes committed physically are categorized as fraudulent when committed in the digital space.

 

According to Madan Oberoi, Executive Director of Technology and Innovation at INTERPOL, 

 

“By recognizing these dangers early on, we can collaborate with stakeholders to develop the required regulatory frameworks and shut off potential criminal markets before they are completely formed.”

 

The Metaverse Experience

 

The Metaverse has become more than just a gaming platform. More individuals and corporations are already using the metaverse for everyday activities such as working, studying, shopping and socializing.

 

Usain Bolt, an 11-time world champion and eight-time Olympic gold winner, has partnered with Step App to elevate fitness and exercise through the metaverse and Web3. Users of the Step App can earn rewards when they participate in exercise activities such as jogging and running with friends and strangers.


The United States’ popular retail store, Walmart also showed its interest to launch its own metaverse that may enhance customers’ shopping experience.

Image source: Interpol

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Terra’s Do Kwon Says He is Cooperating With Prosecutors in New Interview

by Blockchain News

In what appears to be the longest interview session Do Kwon has had since the collapse of Terraform Labs and its associated tokens LUNA and UST, founder, Do Kwon, has granted over an hour of an interview to crypto Journalist and host of the Unchained Podcast Laura Shin.

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In the interview, Kwon said he is currently cooperating with South Korean regulators but has not felt the need to turn himself in as he has not seen an arrest warrant from the prosecutors yet.

 

“We haven’t seen a copy of the arrest warrant so every piece of data we are consuming is from the media,” Kwon said, affirming that all of the document requests he has been served has been treated.

 

One of the most important talking points with Shin was the remorse he felt for the whole collapse of the protocol. He emphatically said he was “sorry” about how everything went down and said he believes every investor in the LUNA and UST believed his assertions that the algorithmic stablecoin can be kept stable.

 

Kwon said he believes the accusations of fraud and scams are unwarranted and that every investor deserves to know what really transpired. He said he understands that it is very difficult to leave with immense losses and that is part of what breaks him the most.

 

The embattled developer said besides the collapse of the LUNA and UST tokens and the ecosystem that was built around the coins, he has contributed positively to the growth of the crypto ecosystem in the five years he has been a leader in the space.


Despite the more than an hour interview, Kwon did not disclose his location, and besides South Korean prosecutors that are on the hunt for him, Interpol has also issued a Red Notice for him, making him one of the most wanted humans alive.

Image source: Shutterstock

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Interpol Issues Red Notice for Terra’s Kwon

by Blockchain News

Terraform Labs co-founder has been issued with a red notice from Interpol, prosecutors in South Korea claim, according to a report from Bloomberg.

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Following the red notice, law enforcement worldwide has the authority to locate and arrest Do Kwon. Interpol coordinates policing efforts between countries.

Kwon is facing a charge related to the US$60 billion wipeout of cryptocurrencies he created.

The news came after a South Korean court issued a warrant for Kwon’s arrest on Sept 14, and days later, after he claimed he was not on the run, South Korean prosecutors asked Interpol to issue a red notice against him.

The red notice has exposed hugely risky practices in the digital assets industry.

Kwon moved to Singapore from South Korea earlier this and until recently, his whereabouts showed that he was still in the city-state. However, his location has become unknown after the local police on Sept 17 said that he was no longer in the city-state.

Kwon and five other Terraform Labs executives face allegations that they breached capital markets laws in South Korea. They have been issued an arrest warrant on Sept 13 from the court in Seoul for allegedly violating the nation’s capital markets law.

The fall of the Terra Platform in May led to the historic collapse of the TerraUSD (UST) stablecoins, which has affected the faith of many people in the digital-asset sector. Currently, the crypto sector still remains rattled by the downfall of the stablecoin, and recovery is still under process.

The ecosystem collapsed when TerraUSD – also known as UST – crumbled from its dollar peg and brought down the ecosystem he had built, after which the prices of both tokens tumbled to near zero, a shadow of the combined $60 billion they once controlled.

Furthermore, the collapse of Terraform Labs’ associated tokens – LUNA and the UST stablecoin – effectively ushered in the first wave of the crypto winter.

Image source: Shutterstock

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South Korean Watchdogs Request Interpol’s Red Notice against Do Kwon

by Blockchain News

The controversy surrounding Do Kwon’s whereabouts continues to grow, given that South Korean prosecutors asked Interpol to issue a red notice against the Terraform Labs’ founder. 

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The Seoul Southern District Prosecutor’s Office had aired its tribulations about Kwon’s noncooperative nature and that he did not intend to show up for questioning. 

“Prosecutors have made a request to Interpol for their assistance to locate Kwon, whose whereabouts remain unknown and to have him handed over to Korea,” the Prosecutors office said, adding that “Currently, we are in the process to locate the whereabouts of suspect Do Kwon and apprehend him,” a prosecution official added.

Over the weekend, Do Kwon insisted that he was not on the run and tweeted:

“I am not ‘on the run’ or anything similar – (from) any government agency that has shown interest to communicate, we are in full cooperation, and we don’t have anything to hide.”

Following the collapse of Terraform Labs’ native tokens UST and Luna in May, the crash triggered a $60 billion crypto meltdown. As a result, South Korean authorities have been pursuing him to get to the bottom line of the matter.

Recently, Seoul Court issued an arrest warrant for Do Kwon and five others for violating the nation’s capital markets law, Blockchain.News reported. 

Furthermore, various lawsuits against Kwon have emerged from investors in different countries.

A red notice issued by Interpol requires law enforcers globally to restrict persons from undertaking cross-border travels and being issued with visas. Moreover, it guarantees the provisional arrest of an individual pending surrender or extradition.

Kwon had initially travelled from South Korea to Singapore, given that Terraform Labs had a base at the latter. Nevertheless, his whereabouts remain scanty because the Singapore Police force hinted that Kwon was not in the nation.

LUNA sent shockwaves to the crypto market after collapsing to near-zero overnight despite it being among the top ten cryptocurrencies in May. 

Things started going south when the algorithmic UST stablecoin on the Terra network experienced a free fall to the extent that leading crypto exchange Binance temporarily halted its withdrawals together with that of LUNA.

Image source: Shutterstock

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Director David Lynch and The Band Interpol Join Forces For NFT Collection

by NEWSBTC

This isn’t the first time that legendary director David Lynch works with Interpol. In 2010, Lynch’s animated short film “I Touch a Red Button Man” used Interpol’s song “Lights” as a soundtrack. The next year, Interpol used that short film as visuals for their Coachella performance. And now, a decade later, they’re both revisiting the work and turning it into eight NFTs.

Related Reading | Colors on Chain Announces Exciting Reward Game Based on NFT Colors

HIFI Labs adapted the work to the NFT realm by dividing it into seven pieces, plus an extra one that’ll be mixed with user-generated content. Through this site, they’ll be available for auction in the Superrare Ethereum marketplace. The pieces are 1/1 editions. This is the first one. They all feature an updated version of the “Lights” song. Forbes describes it as follows.

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“The new renditions feature a stripped-down version of the song, both by design and as a result of the band’s members—Banks, Daniel Kessler and Sam Fogarino—being physically separated for much of the pandemic.”

To paint a clearer picture, Banks said in an official statement by the band:

”The marriage of music and visual is an age-old tradition, and Lynch is a musician himself and has a love for music so it was a pretty organic way for artists from two separate media to come together. From our standpoint, we are all crazy about Lynch so it was amazing that our work was paired with his.”

It appears that Interpol is the force behind Lynch’s new and improved adventures in the NFT space. However, David Lynch tweeted about it. So, he’s aware and supports the project.

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David Lynch’s “I Touch A Red Button Man”

This is the “I Touch a Red Button Man” short film in all its glory:

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At the time of the original collaboration, Banks told the Huffington Post:

“It’s important to clarify that Mr. Lynch did not make a music video for our song. He made an animation of his character, and allowed us to show it. If you missed us at Coachella, then we’re proud to share this with you now. The Red Button Man… doing his thing.”

ETHUSD price chart for 10/27/2021 - TradingView

ETHUSD price chart for 10/27/2021 - TradingView


ETH price chart for 10/27/2021 on Gemini | Source: ETH/USD on TradingView.com

Particularities About The “I Touch A Red Button Man” NFT Collection

First of all, the artists want you to know that “This is a carbon neutral collaboration thanks to our partnership with Aerial.” The mania about the supposed environmental cost of NFTs is rampant online, so they went with a company that verifies carbon offsets. What more could fans want? Well, maybe to be a part of the collection. About this, Forbes informs:

“ In the spirit of fandom and collaboration, fans will be able to add light personal creative touches to one of the eight pieces in the 3D gallery, and one collaborator will be chosen to receive the collaborative NFT for free.”

Related Reading | 17% Of Ethereum Addresses Hold Majority Of NFTs

Go to the website, choose UGC TV8, and use the very rudimentary tools they provide to be a part of history. UGC stands for User Generated Content and you could be that user. Just be sure to leave your mark and your email before November 7th. There’s still time to collaborate with both David Lynch and Interpol.

Featured Image: Screenshot from David Lynch's short film | Charts by TradingView

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Turkey jails 6 in probe into missing Thodex crypto exchange CEO

by Cointelegraph

Turkish authorities are progressing with an investigation into local cryptocurrency exchange Thodex, which abruptly halted trading last week.

On Thursday, a Turkish court jailed six suspects pending trial, including siblings of the missing CEO and senior company employees, Reuters reported.

As part of a probe, Interpol reportedly issued a red notice for Thodex CEO and founder Faruk Fatih Özer, who had reportedly flown to Albania. “When he is caught with the red notice, we have extradition agreements with a large part of these countries. God willing he will be caught and he will be returned,” Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said.

Local authorities detained over 83 individuals suspected to be involved in the case amid growing concerns that Thodex was a scam after the platform halted money withdrawals.

Some suspects indicated that Özer’s siblings — Güven Özer and Serap Özer — could have been serving major roles in Thodex’s operations, noting that both had significant crypto holdings, local news agency Anadolu Agency reports.

Güven Özer reportedly holds nearly 22 million Turskish liras ($2.7 million) on two major local crypto exchanges including BtcTurk and Paribu. Güven reportedly served as an active executive at Thodex despite not having an official role at the company.

Serap Özer, the missing CEO’s sister, reportedly had over 120 million liras ($14.6 million) worth of crypto transactions on her Binance account between 2018 and 2021. She claimed that the account was not hers. Serap allegedly oversaw financial activities at Thodex.

As previously reported, the missing Thodex CEO is reported to have run off with as much as $2 billion worth of crypto, but according to the latest reports, Interior Minister Soylu said that the company’s portfolio totaled $108 million.

The news comes as the Turkish government hardens its stance on crypto, with the country’s central bank officially banning crypto payments effective today. Another Turskish crypto exchange, Vebitcoin, also announced last week that it would be ceasing operations amid employee arrests and allegations of fraud.

Additional reporting by Erhan Kahraman.