North Koreans charged in $88 million identity theft, extortion case

The Department of Justice accused 14 North Korea national eco conspiring using false identities to obtain IT jobs with US companies and divert money to his home country in violation of US sanctions.

The complaintfiled Wednesday in federal court in Missouri, alleges the conspiracy generated at least $88 million between April 2017 and March 2023.

All 14 defendants are charged with conspiracy to violate the Emergency International Economic Powers Act, as well as wire fraud, money laundering and identity theft. Eight of the conspirators are also charged with aggravated identity theft.

The conspirators face up to 27 years in prison each if convicted, the DOJ said. All 14 are listed as “Wanted by the FBI.”

In some cases, they boosted profits by stealing sensitive company information and forcing employers to make extortion payments to prevent its release, the DOJ said.

To hide their identities from US employers, the conspirators applied for jobs using the stolen identities of Americans, prosecutors said. They also allegedly paid Americans to attend job interviews and meetings remotely under false identities, and registered web domains and designed fake websites to deceive prospective employers.

Some websites “should raise suspicions” about candidates, the DOJ said in a press release.

For example, some sites had confusing nonsense, such as: “And besides, there is no one who loves pain because it is pain, after him, who wants to win, but,” said the government.

The conspirators allegedly worked for two North Korean-controlled companies, Yanbian Silverstar and Volasys Silverstar, which are based in China and Russia, respectively. The US Treasury Department has done it before he punished both companies.

The State Department said Thursday it is offering Prize up to 5 million dollars for information on the conspirators and others associated with two “North Korean front companies.”

The two companies employ at least 130 workers, but many more are working to generate revenue for the country’s regulatory regime with the same goal of avoiding sanctions, the DOJ said.

“This is just the tip of the iceberg,” said Ashley Johnson, the FBI’s St. Louis area office special agents on the case filed Thursday.

“The North Korean government has trained and deployed thousands of IT personnel every day to carry out the same scheme against US companies,” Johnson said.

“To promote its brutal regime, the North Korean government directs IT workers to the DPRK to fraudulently obtain employment, steal sensitive information from US companies, and recoup money,” Attorney General Lisa Monaco said in a press release.

“This indictment of 14 North Korean nationals exposes alleged sanctions evasion and should serve as a warning to businesses around the world: be on the lookout for this nefarious activity by the DPRK regime,” Monaco said.