The US Ministry of Justice announced on Monday that it had taken several North Korean levy actions, based on secret IT workers within US technology companies to raise funds for the nuclear weapons program.
As part of Doj’s multinational effort, the government announced the arrest and indictment of the American National Zhenxing “Danny” Wang, who allegedly ran a long -term New Jersey fraud program to slip out of North Korea workers in technology companies. According to the indictment, the plan created more than $ 5 million in revenue for the North Korean regime.
Wang is accused of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering and identity theft.
The federal accused eight people who participated in the program: Six Chinese nationals and two Taiwan citizens, who are accused of conspiring to commit fraud, money laundering, identity theft, piracy and violate sanctions.
“Thousands of North Korean cyberspaces have been trained and developed by the regime to combine the world digital workforce and systematically target US companies,” said Leah B. Foley, a US lawyer for the Massachusetts region.
From 2021 to 2024, co-conspirators allegedly preferred more than 80 US people to acquire remote jobs in more than 100 US companies, causing $ 3 million damage due to legal fees, data recovery efforts and much more.
The group is said to have executed a laptop within the United States, which North Korea workers could actually use as proxies to hide their origin, according to Doj. Occasionally, they used material devices known as Keyboard-Video-Mouse (KVM) keyboard switchesthat allow a person to control multiple computers from a single keyboard and mouse. The team also allegedly ran in the US shell companies to show that North Korean Informatics employees were connected to legal local companies and to receive money that would then be transferred abroad, Doj said.
The fraudulent plan also allegedly included North Korea employees who steal sensitive data, such as the source code, from the companies they worked for, such as an anonymous California -based defense contractor “developing artificial equipment and technologies.”
DOJ said the FBI searches earlier in June in 21 locations in 14 states, allegedly hosting portable farms using the North Korean program. The FBI occupied 137 laptops as a result of raids.
The Feds also said they occupied at least 21 sectors of web, 29 financial accounts used to rinse tens of thousands of dollars and over 70 laptops and remote access devices, including KVM.
Five nationals of North Korea were charged with fraud and money laundering after stole more than $ 900,000 in encryption by two public limited companies, thanks to the use of false or stolen identities, Doj said.
