A woman from Arizona has been sentenced to 102 months in prison for helping North Korean hackers pose as American citizens to apply for jobs fraudulently.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the scheme involved Christina Chapman of Litchfield Park, AZ, hosting a “laptop farm” to assist DPRK hackers in posing as IT workers and stealing over $17 million from 309 US companies.
Chapman’s laptop farm was first seized in 2023. In February of this year, she pleaded guilty to using over 90 computers to receive, host and deceive US companies into hiring North Korean hackers using false, stolen or borrowed US citizen identities.
According to court documents, the scheme generated over $17 million for the North Korean government. Some of the duped companies even included Fortune 500 firms.
Assistant Director Rozhavsky of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division warns against the reality of where North Korean hacked funds are heading:
“The North Korean regime has generated millions of dollars for its nuclear weapons program by victimizing American citizens, businesses, and financial institutions.
However, even an adversary as sophisticated as the North Korean government can’t succeed without the assistance of willing US citizens like Christina Chapman, who was sentenced today for her role in an elaborate scheme to defraud more than 300 American companies by helping North Korean IT workers gain virtual employment and launder the money they earned.
Today’s sentencing demonstrates that the FBI will work tirelessly with our partners to defend the homeland and hold those accountable who aid our adversaries.”
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