An Arizona woman has been accused of working with some persons related to the North Korean government in a plot to appropriate remote telework positions with different firms under the United States of America, according to federal prosecutors who said so on Thursday.
According to the indictment, Christina Chapman allegedly conspired with North Korean IT employees Jiho Han, Chunji Jin, and others to acquire the identities of US citizens and obtain remote employment through fraudulent means, using false documentation.
Prosecutors describe the operation as extensive and lucrative, with Chapman and her associates accused of exploiting the identities of more than 60 US residents to amass nearly $7 million, which purportedly funded the North Korean government.
This sum was reportedly obtained from over 300 US companies, including some listed among the Fortune 500
This sum was reportedly obtained from over 300 US companies, including some listed among the Fortune 500, such as a major television network, a defense contractor, and an automobile manufacturer.
Chapman utilized laptops, deceitfully obtained under the guise of legitimate US residents, to orchestrate the appearance that her co-conspirators were operating from within the United States. This facade was part of a broader strategy to launder the salaries earned through the scheme.
The government’s case against Chapman includes the operation of a so-called “laptop farm,” a ploy that ultimately failed to secure employment for the conspirators within US government agencies, such as the Government Services Administration.
Chapman is accused of facilitating overseas workers’ connection to their remote jobs in the US through these laptops and collecting their paychecks at her residence.
As per a State Department memo, the trio of Han, Jin, and Xu are believed to be associated with the North Korean Munitions Industry Department—a body involved with ballistic missile and weapons production. The memo, which offers a $5 million reward for information disrupting this operation, implicates them in working alongside Chapman to funnel the ill-gotten gains back to North Korea.
“The charges in this case should be a wakeup call for American companies and government agencies that employ remote IT workers. These crimes benefitted the North Korean government, giving it a revenue stream and, in some instances, proprietary information stolen by the co-conspirators,” stated Nicole M. Argentieri, the head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.
The investigation revealed that since at least 2020, the implicated IT group has been orchestrating a remote-work fraud targeting US companies, involving the transmission of falsified identification details to government entities.
The scheme began when an unidentified individual contacted Chapman via LinkedIn in March 2020, claiming to represent a US-based company. Between August 2022 and November of the same year, North Korean operatives allegedly started compiling relevant resumes and used an online background check system to identify and steal the identities of specific American citizens.
