The US Department of Justice announced Monday that it had taken several enforcement measures against North Korea’s gold-making work. It announced that it would rely on undercover IT workers within American high-tech companies to raise funds for the administration’s nuclear weapons program and steal data and cryptocurrency.
As part of DOJ’s multi-state efforts, the government has announced the arrest and indictment of “Danny” Wang, National Zenks in the United States. The scheme generated more than $5 million in revenue for the North Korean regime, according to the indictment.
The King is accused of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering and identity theft.
The federal government also indicted eight more people who participated in the scheme. Six Chinese citizens and two Taiwanese citizens have been accused of violating wire fraud, money laundering, identity theft, hacking and sanctions.
“Thousands of North Korean cyber operatives are trained and deployed by the administration, blending into the global digital workforce and systematically targeting US companies,” quoted Leah B. Foley, a U.S. lawyer in Massachusetts.
From 2021 to 2024, more than 80 US individuals began to acquire remote employment at more than 100 American companies, allegedly causing $3 million in damages due to legal costs and data breaches efforts.
According to DOJ, the group is said to operate laptop farms in the United States. Sometimes, a hardware device known as the Keyboard Video Mouse (KVM) switch was used to allow one person to control multiple computers from a single keyboard and mouse. The group is said to run shell companies in the US to make North Korean IT workers appear to be affiliated with legitimate local businesses and then take the money they receive afterwards transported abroad.
The fraudulent scheme also allegedly involved North Korean workers stealing sensitive data from the companies they worked in, such as from an unknown defense contractor named “Developing equipment and technologies with artificial intelligence.”
The DOJ said the FBI conducted searches in 21 locations in 14 states at the beginning of June. The FBI seized 137 laptops as a result of the attack.
The Fed also said it had seized at least 21 web domains, 29 financial accounts used for tens of thousands of dollars of laundry, and more than 70 laptops and remote access devices, including KVM.
Five North Korean citizens were charged with wire fraud and money laundering after stealing more than $900,000 in code from two unnamed companies, the DOJ said.
