- Five individuals pleaded guilty to aiding North Korea in illicit revenue by enabling fraudulent IT worker schemes in the U.S.
- The defendants used stolen U.S. identities and hosted laptop farms to allow overseas IT workers to secure U.S. jobs remotely.
- One defendant managed a website facilitating identity sales and operated multiple laptop farms, forfeiting over $1.4 million.
- The schemes affected over 136 U.S. companies, generated more than $2.2 million for North Korea, and compromised identities of more than 18 U.S. citizens.
- The U.S. Justice Department has also filed civil complaints to seize over $15 million in cryptocurrency stolen by North Korean Hacking groups.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced that five individuals pleaded guilty for their roles in assisting North Korea’s illegal revenue operations by enabling fraudulent employment schemes involving foreign IT workers. The individuals—Audricus Phagnasay, Jason Salazar, Alexander Paul Travis, Oleksandr Didenko, and Erick Ntekereze Prince—helped overseas IT workers secure jobs at U.S. companies using stolen American identities from September 2019 to November 2022, violating international sanctions.
Phagnasay, Salazar, and Travis admitted to conspiring to commit wire fraud by allowing IT workers abroad to assume their U.S. identities and perform work remotely. They facilitated the fraud by Hosting company laptops at their homes and installing remote desktop software to simulate in-country work. Salazar and Travis also attended drug tests on behalf of the IT workers. Travis, a U.S. Army member at the time, received over $51,000 for his participation. Phagnasay and Salazar earned approximately $3,400 and $4,500, respectively.
Oleksandr Didenko pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft after stealing U.S. citizens’ identities and selling them to IT workers. He operated a website called “Upworksell.com” that helped overseas workers buy or rent stolen identities. His clients used these identities to obtain jobs on U.S.-based freelance platforms starting in 2021. Didenko paid U.S. residents to host laptops, creating laptop farms, including one run by Christina Marie Chapman in Arizona, who was sentenced to over eight years in prison. Didenko managed up to 871 proxy identities and operated at least three laptop farms, forfeiting more than $1.4 million.
Erick Ntekereze Prince also pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy for supplying “certified” IT workers to U.S. companies through his company, Taggcar Inc. He ran a laptop farm in Florida and earned over $89,000. Prince was indicted alongside others for enabling North Korean IT workers to gain employment at over 64 U.S. companies.
These operations affected more than 136 U.S. companies, generated over $2.2 million for the North Korean regime, and compromised the identities of more than 18 U.S. persons, according to the Justice Department.
Separately, the department filed civil complaints to seize over $15 million in cryptocurrency stolen in hacks attributed to APT38 (also known as BlueNoroff). The stolen funds resulted from breaches of virtual currency processors and exchanges in Estonia, Panama, and Seychelles during 2023. The Justice Department noted ongoing efforts to trace and recover these illicit assets, which are laundered through complex virtual currency networks.
This action continues U.S. efforts to disrupt North Korean schemes financing the regime, including recent Treasury sanctions against individuals and entities involved in cybercrime and IT worker fraud.
For more information, see the Department of Justice announcement and details on the laptop farm case here.
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