Christina Marie Chapman, a 50-year-old girl from Arizona, was sentenced to 102 months in jail after pleading responsible to her involvement in a scheme that enabled North Korean IT staff to infiltrate 309 U.S. corporations.
Chapman was charged in Could, along with Ukrainian citizen Oleksandr Didenko, with aggravated identification theft, conspiracy to defraud america, and conspiracy to commit cash laundering, wire fraud, identification fraud, and financial institution fraud.
Didenko additionally ran an internet platform often called UpWorkSell (which was seized by the DOJ) that supplied companies permitting North Koreans to make use of false identities whereas attempting to find distant IT work positions.
Three different overseas nationals, recognized solely by their aliases (Jiho Han, Haoran Xu, and Chunji Jin) and a part of the identical prison group, have been additionally charged with conspiracy to commit cash laundering.
In response to court docket paperwork, Chapman hosted the North Korean IT staff’ computer systems in her own residence beteen October 2020 and October 2023, making a so-called “laptop computer farm” which was used to make it seem as if the gadgets have been positioned in america.
The North Koreans have been employed as distant software program and software builders with a number of Fortune 500 corporations, together with an aerospace and protection firm, a serious tv community, a Silicon Valley expertise firm, and a high-profile firm.
On account of this scheme, they collected over $17 million in illicit income paid for his or her work, which was shared with Chapman, who processed their paychecks by means of her monetary accounts.
“Chapman operated a ‘laptop computer farm’ the place she acquired and hosted computer systems from the U.S. corporations her house, in order that the businesses would consider the employees have been in america,” the Justice Division mentioned on Thursday.
“Chapman additionally shipped 49 laptops and different gadgets provided by U.S. corporations to areas abroad, together with a number of shipments to a metropolis in China on the border with North Korea. Greater than 90 laptops have been seized from Chapman’s house following the execution of a search warrant in October 2023.”
On Thursday, the U.S. Division of the Treasury’s Workplace of International Belongings Management (OFAC) additionally sanctioned a North Korean entrance firm and three related people who have been linked to fraudulent info expertise (IT) employee schemes.
In latest weeks, the Division of Justice disrupted an in depth community of people who helped North Korean staff get hold of distant jobs at U.S. corporations, whereas the FBI up to date its steerage for U.S. companies.
Beforehand, america launched a number of joint advisories with overseas companions warning of North Korean IT employee schemes and sanctioned a number of organizations concerned in North Korea’s IT employee income technology schemes.
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