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DPRK operatives have long worked to position themselves in remote IT jobs and pilfer money for Pyongyang’s weapons programs.
The State Department is seeking information about a trio of North Korean IT workers and an American co-conspirator that were involved in a scheme to fraudulently secure work within U.S. government agencies and companies.
The sham staffers affiliated with the DPRK’s Munitions Industry Department obtained illicit telework employment with U.S. companies using false identities belonging to more than 60 real U.S. persons, the State Department said. The tactics generated at least $6.8 million for Pyongyang.
They attempted to gain similar jobs at two unnamed U.S. agencies but failed, State said Thursday. The agency is offering an up to $5 million reward for information leading to the disruption of their money laundering scheme.
Between Oct. 2020 and Oct. 2023, the U.S. collaborator — named Christina Chapman — enabled the North Korean nationals to secure remote software development work by helping them masquerade as American citizens, placing them in well known firms across the country. She is charged with nine counts, including conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government, with some 300 U.S. firms being impacted, according to a federal court indictment unsealed on Thursday.
She is alleged to have aided the workers — named by the State Department as Jiho Han, Chunji Jin, and Haoran Xu — by helping them obtain valid identification of real U.S. citizens. She is also accused of hosting the computers provided to the North Korean workers by their U.S. employers to make it appear as if they were working in a U.S. location.
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