North Koreans Posed as U.S. IT Professionals to Transfer Funds to Pyongyang, According to DOJ

December 13, 2024 TruthUSA

The State Department is offering a reward of up to $5 million for leads pertaining to two North Korean-controlled firms.

On December 11, a federal court indicted 14 men from North Korea for allegedly using false identities to secure remote IT positions at U.S. companies, subsequently funneling their earnings back to North Korea to support weapons development projects.

The accused were charged in a Missouri federal court with conspiracy to violate U.S. sanctions, wire fraud, money laundering, and identity theft, as stated by the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Eight of the indicted individuals faced charges of aggravated identity theft. Each defendant could face a maximum penalty of 27 years in prison if found guilty, according to the DOJ.

Federal prosecutors revealed that the men were employed by two firms controlled by North Korea—Yanbian Silverstar and Volasys Silverstar—operating out of China and Russia, respectively. These companies collectively hired 130 workers involved in the illegal scheme, as noted in a DOJ statement.

The FBI has listed all the defendants as wanted persons.

“The indictment of these 14 North Korean nationals reveals their alleged evasion of sanctions and serves as a warning to companies worldwide—stay vigilant against such nefarious activities from the DPRK regime,” remarked Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, using the acronym for North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

The State Department announced it was offering a reward of up to $5 million for information related to the companies, which allegedly facilitated the exportation of North Korean workers to generate funds for the regime, as well as for details on the identified individuals, their purported illegal activities, or associated individuals and entities.

As per the indictment, the defendants allegedly generated $88 million in illegal revenue during the six-year conspiracy that spanned from April 2017 to March 2023.

They purportedly stole the identities of American citizens to apply for IT roles in U.S. companies and nonprofit organizations, compensating Americans to participate in job interviews and work meetings online while using these fraudulent identities.

The accused allegedly registered web domains and constructed websites designed to mislead potential employers. Prosecutors asserted that the websites contained elements that “should have raised suspicion” among the job applicants.

According to the indictment, the men also recruited Americans to purchase laptops and install remote access software to create the illusion that they were working from within the U.S.

In certain cases, the defendants extorted money from U.S. employers by threatening to disseminate sensitive information online, as the indictment revealed.

Prosecutors indicated that the men would then transfer their salaries or extortion revenues to accounts controlled by the North Korean government, including accounts at banks situated in China.

“Though we have disrupted this operation and pinpointed its leaders, this is merely the beginning,” remarked Ashley Johnson, special agent in charge at the FBI St. Louis Field Office. “The North Korean government has trained and dispatched thousands of IT workers to enact similar schemes against U.S. companies daily.”

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