The US Department of Justice has charged five people with engaging in activitiesthat generated revenue for program North Korea's nuclear weapons. They include an American woman, a Ukrainian man and three other foreign nationals.
The five perpetrators allegedly participated in a campaign coordinated by the North Korean government, between October 2020 and October 2023, aimed at infiltrating US labor markets through tofraud increase revenue for the country's illicit nuclear program.
Two of them, Christina Marie Chapman and Oleksandr Didenko, were arrested on May 15 in Litchfield Park, Arizona, and in Poland on May 7, 2024, respectively. The Department of Justice is now seeking Didenko's extradition to the United States.
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Both were charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, identity theft fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering, wire fraud, identity fraud, and bank fraud. Three other foreigners, known only by their pseudonyms (Jiho Han, Haoran Xu, and Chunji Jin), were also charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering.
If convicted, Chapman faces a maximum prison sentence of 97.5 years, and Didenko faces 67.5 years.
“Chapman and her associates committed fraud and stole the identities of American citizens to allow individuals living abroad to pose as American, remote workers IT,” said Nicole M. Argentieri, chief of the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division.
The US State Department announced a reward of up to $5 million for any information about Chapman's co-conspirators, the North Korean employees and their manager, known only as Zhonghua.
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North Koreans worked remotely via laptop farms
The U.S. Department of Justice says Chapman hosted the computers of North Korean workers in her home, creating a “laptop farm” to make it appear as if her associates’ devices were located in the United States.
North Koreans, using American identities , worked as software and application developers, remotely, at many large Fortune 500 companies.
They were paid millions for their work, and the American Chapman processed their salaries through her financial accounts.
Didenko also ran an online platform known as UpWorkSell, providing services that allow North Koreans to use false identities while looking for jobs in the IT industry (remote work).
“In coordination with co-conspirators, Didenko facilitated the operation of at least three U.S.-based “laptop farms,” which housed approximately 79 computers. Didenko sent or received payments of $920,000 since July 2018.“.
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According to the indictment, their scheme compromised affected more than 300 American companies.
All of their activity generated at least $6.8 million in revenue for foreign IT workers, which was earmarked for North Korea's nuclear program.
North Korea has developed a complex network of illicit activities to circumvent international sanctions and fund its nuclear weapons program.
The proceeds from these activities are used to purchase materials and technology necessary for the development and manufacture of nuclear weapons.
Working with foreign nationals (such as American Christina Marie Chapman) and organizations allows North Korea to expand its network of illicit activities and gain access to technology and funds that it could not obtain in other ways.
Source: www.bleepingcomputer.com
