An American who helped North Korean IT workers rake in $17.1 million faces sentencing in scheme that tricked hundreds of Fortune 500 companies

Christina Chapman, 50, Admit On February’s conspiracy accusations regarding the plan, the authorities recommended nine years in prison for their role, according to a memorandum issued by the verdict offered last week. This is despite her claim to the FBI, she had no idea that North Korea was involved. Prosecutors also seek to obtain 36 months of the supervision release, and the ruling of money for $ 176,850 – as the same amount claims that Chapmann for its part in the plan, which recorded at least $ 17.1 million to North Korea, for each tax department.

The prosecutors wrote in the memo, “The highly lenient sentence will transmit the wrong message to both the North Koreans, the current and future facilitators in the United States that this behavior is tolerated in the United States and deserves a risk that it will be arrested by US law enforcement.” “Instead, the court must send a message that participating in these plans and related violations of the law has severe consequences so that the potential facilitators are deterred in the future.”

Attempts to reach Chapman did not succeed through her lawyer.

according to Court documents And law enforcement, thousands of information technology workers trained Technical elite schools In North Korea, it participated in a vast global conspiracy to arm the economy remotely by obtaining jobs in it using fake, stolen or borrowed identities. Workers, their headquarters, North Korea, or sites such as China, Russia or the United Arab Emirates, use Amnesty International to manage ten or more people and obtain legitimate jobs in we and European companies. The United States has maintained sanctions on North Korea since 2016 due to its nuclear efforts, and it has banned the system from the American financial system and limited all businesses between the United States and companies with North Korea.

In the Chapman case, the 2023 raid of her home in the outskirts of Arizona found a complex launching area that includes 90 laptops in a regulatory preparation to track the device for which the worker was intended, and the prosecutors in the court records wrote. Each device has described with notes that define the associated company and the corresponding stolen identity, pictures of the RAID display. The authorities said that they had helped the workers in the plan for three years, at some point that were overwhelmed by the tasks that they needed to employ assistants to help them.

According to court records, Chapmann IT workers helped to verify stolen identities so that they can put real citizens and install programs after shipping companies from laptops. She helped North Korean workers in a distance login, then the laptops kept safe and safe in their home until American companies believe that North Korea workers were present in the United States

The authorities said that Chapman has shipped 35 packages to Dangong, China, a city near the North Korean border, and helped charging at least 49 laptops and other devices to China, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates and Nigeria. It also helped them exchange their checks by accepting their payments and depositing money in their bank account before transferring them to the workers.

The North Korean workers were imposed on $ 176,850 as fees for its services, according to the memo.

Federal payment is not related to an important penalty for Jehabman on individual punishment only; It is a strategic step for a previous situation, Andrew Burin, Executive Director of Flashpoint that Intelligence and senior officials in Office of the Director of National IntelligenceHe said luck.

“This claim aims to draw a line, and to deter the Missaris of the United States in the future and send a message to Pyongyang,” Borin said. “I expect the ruling to confirm the danger of helping a punishable system, and represents a pivotal moment in how the US government faces collusion in these national criminal institutions.”

Borin said that the repercussions of the workers plan This year is condensed with The accusation regulations in December 2024And Raid Among the 29 salads of other laptop farms announced in June.

The prosecutors noted that although Chapmann claimed that he was unaware of the participation of an accredited country, the impact of the victim is great, and the case is one of the largest fraud in information technology in North Korea accused by the Ministry of Justice. About 68 American citizens stole their identities, and 309 American companies were fraudulent in addition to multinational companies.

Those who stole their identities have fake tax obligations created in their name and undergoing continuous monitoring from the Tax and Social Security Authority. Prosecutors wrote that one of the victims was from unemployment because the IT factor was using the social security number. It is claimed that information technology workers have created online profiles and social media to help in this scheme, which made it difficult for those who stole their identities to regain control of their names.

Prosecutors wrote that the influence on companies was also huge.

“First, the fact that American companies had the knowledge of North Korea technologically that reach sensitive information technology systems in general to the American companies conducting internal and expensive security reviews,” the memo said. “Secondly, some American companies stole their data by the IT worker, causing more internal security review.”

The authorities said that Chapmann has intentionally hindered the investigation because it deleted about 10 Skype talks with IT workers when she discovered that the FBI was the hands of her house.

It will be sentenced to July 24 in Arizona.