Crypto mixer Sinbad was seized by the U.S. FBI and the Dutch Financial Intelligence and Investigation Service as part of an international law enforcement investigation.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury shared a release on November 29 and said that the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned Sinbad, alleging that it is serving as a money laundering tool for Lazarus Group, the infamous North Korean hackers.
The Fed agency states that Sinbad processed millions of crypto assets for Lazarus Group, which the hacker group stole from multiple protocols including the $100 million heist from Horizon Bridge and the attack on Ronin Bridge which drained $625 million from the protocol.
“Sinbad is also used by cybercriminals to obfuscate transactions linked to malign activities such as sanctions evasion, drug trafficking, the purchase of child sexual abuse materials, and additional illicit sales on darknet marketplaces,” reads the release.
The move from the Treasury Department comes after the agency began taking actions against malicious actors who help cyber criminals like Lazarus Group in obfuscating stolen assets.
Sinbad is the third crypto mixer seized by Feds as previously Tornado Cash was sanctioned in August 2022. The OFAC also sanctioned Blender in May 2022 which was the first crypto mixer to be seized by a law enforcement agency.
Wally Adeyemo, the Deputy Secretary of the Treasury, said that such crypto-mixing service providers will face serious consequences if they enable criminal actors to launder stolen crypto assets.
“The Treasury Department and its U.S. government partners stand ready to deploy all tools at their disposal to prevent virtual currency mixers, like Sinbad, from facilitating illicit activities,” said Adeyemo. “While we encourage responsible innovation in the digital asset ecosystem, we will not hesitate to take action against illicit actors.”
