The US Justice Department (DoJ) revealed it has recovered $500,000 in crypto paid by the Kansas medical center in 2021, plus ransoms paid by a medical provider in Colorado to North Korean hackers.
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In a press release, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said that the operation was carried out in a cooperation with the FBI, and their partners at CISA and Treasury. The FBI is said to have identified China-based money launderers who were "cashing out" ransom payments into fiat currency. The DoJ states:
"Additional blockchain analysis revealed that these same accounts contained other ransom payments. The FBI traced those to another medical provider in Colorado and potential overseas victims."
Although no details were revealed, Monaco said that the FBI and DoJ traced the ransom payment through the blockchain "just as we did in the aftermath of the attack on the Colonial Pipeline."
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