A British cryptocurrency expert is on the FBI's most-wanted list for allegedly breaking US-imposed sanctions against North Korea.
Christopher Emms, from Reigate, Surrey, was detained in February under an Interpol red notice when he tried to leave Saudi Arabia and faces a fine of £1million and a long prison term in the US.
Mr Emms attended a cryptocurrency conference in North Korea's capital Pyongyang in 2019 and was subsequently added to the FBI's most-wanted list, as they accused him and a Spanish co-defendant, Alejandro Cao de Benos, of “planning and organising” the conference “for the benefit of the DPRK [North Korea]”.
Speaking to Sky News, the 30-year-old pleaded to the British government to allow him to return to the United Kingdom to face extradition proceedings there.
He said: "I really just want to come back home and deal with this through the British court system, which I don't think is a huge thing to ask, even of the Americans."
New York prosecutors say Mr Emms conspired to violate the US International Emergency Economic Powers Act imposed by Washington to stop trade with North Korea.
If found guilty, he faces up to 20 years in prison but Mr Emms denies any wrongdoing and says the British Foreign Office guidance at the time said it was safe to attend the conference.
Upon receiving the invitation by his now co-defendant he says his initial thought was: "Look, is this legal? Am I going to be breaking any laws by doing it?"
Mr Emms, who is a resident in the United Arab Emirates, told Sky News he did due diligence, checked the British government website on travelling to North Korea and looked up the UN resolutions on North Korea.
The former head of business development at bitcoin.com says he has had in-depth conversations with officials and legal counsel in the US, Saudi and the UK and is confident he is not guilty.
His bank accounts have been blocked, and while he is not in prison, he is unable to leave while he awaits an extradition hearing.
The conference is extensively being investigated by the US and has already led to the conviction of American Virgil Griffith.
Spanish Cao de Beno has been an open propagandist of North Korea for many years and is head of the international Korean Friendship Association which honours the country's leader Kim Jong Un.
Mr Emms claims that he does not know Cao de Beno and said they had spoken at the conference but did not keep in touch after.
According to the FBI, Mr Emms opened the conference by declaring: "I'm sure a lot of people in this room [who] work within the banking system, will understand how predominantly the United States controls the way in which money moves around the world and this can be very, very unfair."
The indictment claims that Mr Emms said cryptocurrency made it "possible to transfer money across any country in the world regardless of... sanctions".
In defence, he said that the "last thing" he was going to do is turn up to the conference and start denouncing the authoritarian state, as that would have put him in "very real" danger.
He was detained at Riyadh airport in February when he tried to return from Saudi Arabia's LEAP, a tech exhibition, conference.
Mr Emms strongly told Sky News: "I'm not a supporter of North Korea, or their government or their nuclear weapons programme."
He has applied to the United Nations court against arbitrary detention and is in regular conversation with the British embassy, however, the UK feels they cannot actively get involved in the case.
