A U.S. woman has pleaded guilty to assisting North Korean information technology (IT) workers in securing fraudulent employment, enabling them to generate over $17 million in illicit earnings, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
On February 11, the DOJ announced in a press release that Christina Marie Chapman, a 48-year-old resident of Arizona, admitted to facilitating the fraudulent employment of overseas IT workers.
Chapman pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Washington D.C. to commit wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and conspiracy to launder monetary instruments.
According to court documents, between October 2020 and October 2023, Chapman collaborated with foreign IT workers to steal the identities of U.S. nationals and used those identities to apply for remote IT jobs. She then submitted false documents to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The DOJ stated that the scheme allowed Chapman’s overseas IT workers to generate over $17 million in illegal revenue. Most of these earnings were reported to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) under the stolen identities of real American citizens.
While the DOJ did not explicitly name the foreign IT workers as North Koreans, its findings align with previous U.S. government reports on Pyongyang’s cyber activities.
The fraudulent IT workers secured employment at hundreds of U.S. companies, including major corporations. They were primarily hired through staffing and contracting agencies, allowing them to gain access to sensitive internal systems despite being located overseas.
Chapman operated what authorities called a “laptop farm” from her home, handling computers sent by U.S. companies and making it appear as though the overseas IT workers were physically present in the United States. This deception compromised the internal systems of more than 300 U.S. businesses, while at least 70 American citizens had their identities stolen as part of the scheme.
Chapman’s sentencing is scheduled for June 16. Under a plea agreement, both parties have recommended a prison term ranging between 94 to 111 months.
The U.S. government has intensified efforts to crack down on North Korea’s illicit IT workforce, which exploits remote work opportunities to evade international sanctions.
On January 23, the DOJ announced the indictment of two North Koreans, one Mexican national, and two Americans for using false identities to secure contracts with U.S. IT companies. The North Korean operatives reportedly earned approximately $860,000 from 64 U.S. businesses through this scheme.
The U.S. government has repeatedly warned that North Korean IT workers engage in employment fraud to fund Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program. Federal agencies, including the FBI, have urged American companies to scrutinize remote hires carefully to prevent unauthorized foreign access to sensitive data and networks.
BY YOUNGNAM KIM [kim.youngnam@koreadaily.com]
