The Justice Department announced on Monday criminal charges connected to a scheme in which North Korea covertly funded its weapons program using the salaries of remote IT workers unknowingly hired by U.S. companies.
According to officials, the charges stem from a nationwide law enforcement operation that led to the seizure of financial accounts, websites, and laptops used in the scheme.
Separate cases filed in Georgia and Massachusetts are part of a broader Justice Department effort to counter what authorities describe as an ongoing and lucrative threat. They say the operation has generated significant revenue for the North Korean regime and, in some instances, allowed unauthorized access to sensitive corporate data.
The scheme allegedly involved thousands of IT workers deployed by the North Korean government using stolen or fake identities. These individuals posed as U.S.-based remote employees and were hired by unsuspecting American companies, including several in the Fortune 500. In reality, many of these workers were operating from North Korea or China. Prosecutors say the wages they earned were funneled into accounts controlled by North Korean-affiliated co-conspirators.
“These schemes are designed to defraud U.S. companies, evade sanctions, and fund North Korea’s illicit programs, including its weapons development,” said Assistant Attorney General John Eisenberg of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.
In one case detailed in federal court in Massachusetts, prosecutors arrested a U.S. citizen and charged more than half a dozen Chinese and Taiwanese nationals for allegedly participating in a sophisticated fraud operation that generated millions of dollars and impacted numerous companies. According to court documents, the group registered financial accounts to collect the illicit funds and created fake businesses and websites to make the workers appear legitimate. Accomplices in the U.S. helped provide remote access that tricked companies into believing the workers were logging in from domestic locations.
While the Justice Department did not name the affected companies, officials said some of the fraudulent workers accessed and stole sensitive information, including data tied to military technologies.
In Georgia, four North Korean IT workers have been charged with stealing cryptocurrency valued in the hundreds of thousands of dollars from their employers. These defendants remain at large.
This case is the latest in a series of similar prosecutions brought by the Justice Department, which has launched targeted initiatives to disrupt and dismantle North Korea’s cyber-enabled revenue generation efforts.
0 Comments