(CNN) The US Justice Department on Thursday unsealed criminal charges against more than two dozen North Korean bankers, alleging they were behind an international money laundering scheme that moved some $2.5 billion in violation of US sanctions. Twenty-eight North Korean nationals face a slew of charges related to bank fraud, money laundering and criminal enterprises, in what appears to be the first case brought against members of the North Korean financial system. Five Chinese nationals also were charged. The scheme, dating back to 2013, was allegedly built amid several years of escalating sanctions placed by the US and other world powers on North Korea that aimed to deter the country's growing arms capacity and have crippled their economy. The indictment says the Pyongyang-based bank dispatched the defendants to countries including Russia, China, Thailand, Libya, Austria and Kuwait, where they took up residence and operated the new, secret branches, as well as more than 250 front companies.

Source: CNN May 28, 2020 19:07 UTC