Arizona woman imprisoned for $17M North Korean remote workers scheme
July 24 (UPI) -- Arizona resident Christina Chapman must serve 102 months in prison for her role in a $17 million scheme to help North Koreans obtain remote positions with U.S. tech firms.
U.S District Court for the District of Columbia Judge Randolph Moss on Thursday sentenced Chapman, 50, after she entered a guilty plea in February to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to launder monetary instruments on behalf of the government of North Korea.
Chapman participated in a "fraudulent scheme that assisted North Korean workers -- posing as U.S. citizens and residents -- in obtaining and working in remote [Internet technology] positions at more than 300 U.S.companies," U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro and Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Galeotti announced in a news release.
"North Korea is not just a threat to the homeland from afar," Pirro said. "It is perpetrating fraud on American citizens, American companies and American banks."
She said it's important for U.S. corporations and businesses to verify the identities of remote workers to thwart such fraud.
"If this happened to these big banks, to these Fortune 500, brand-name, quintessential American companies, it can or is happening to your company," Pirro added.
In addition to the prison term, Moss also ordered Chapman to forfeit $284,555.92 that was intended for North Koreans and to pay a $176,850 fine.
She also must serve three years of supervised release after completing her prison term.
Chapman was part of what the Justice Department says is one of the largest North Korean IT worker fraud schemes.
It involved the theft of identities from 68 U.S. citizens and residents and affected 309 U.S. businesses and two international businesses.
Chapman is a U.S. citizen and participated in the scheme from October 2020 to October 2023 by using stolen and purchased identities of U.S. nationals to help North Korean operatives to obtain remote work as U.S. firms, including many Fortune 500 companies.
The DOJ says Chapman operated a "laptop farm" at her home, where she received and operated at least 90 laptops to fool U.S. employers into thinking the North Korean operatives were located in the United States.
She also shipped 49 laptops and other devices that U.S. employers provided and that she shipped overseas.
Chapman sent several to a city in China that is located along the border with North Korea.
The companies affected include a top-five television network, a Silicon Valley tech company, an aerospace manufacturer, a U.S. carmaker, a luxury retail store and a U.S. media and entertainment company.
The North Korean operatives also tried to gain remote employment with two U.S. government agencies.
Court documents indicate North Korea has deployed thousands of highly skilled IT workers around the world to use false, stolen or borrowed identities of people in the United States and elsewhere to obtain remote positions.
The scheme relies on the assistance of U.S. citizens and legal residents when tried in the United States and enables North Korea to defraud respective employers of millions of dollars, the DOJ says.
The illicit funds often are used to help fund North Korea's nuclear weapons program.
The Department of State in July sanctioned North Korean hacker Song Kum Hyok for similar alleged criminal activities
The DOJ in August also accused Matthew Isaac Knoot, 39, of Nashville, of allegedly operating a laptop farm to benefit North Korea's nuclear arms program.
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