Prosecutors said Monday that in Georgia, four North Korean nationals are working remote IT workers for U.S. and Serbian blockchain companies and stealing nearly $1 million of North Koreans in fraud and laundering money in cryptocurrencies.
according to To the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Kim Kwang Jin, Kang Tae Bok, Jong Pong Ju and Chang Nam Il as remote IT developers, using fake and stolen identities to cover up their North Korean citizenship.
The group initially operated from the United Arab Emirates in 2019, and then an Atlanta-based blockchain startup and Serbian virtual token company in late 2020 to mid-2021.
Prosecutors said King and Zhong filed fraudulent documents, including stolen and fabricated ID cards to secure their position, a strategy by U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg, calling it a “unique threat” to businesses hiring remote IT workers.
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Four North Koreans stole $915,000 in cryptocurrency
After entering the room, the defendant used privileged access to steal a large amount of money. In February 2022, Jong secretly made about $175,000 in cryptocurrency. The next month, Kim used the source code of the smart contract to steal $740,000.
Investigators said the stolen funds were then laundered through the mixer and sent to exchange accounts controlled by Kang and Chang, all set up using fraudulent Malaysia IDs.
“These programs are targeted at U.S. companies, aimed at evading sanctions and funding illegal programs of the North Korean regime, including its weapons programs,” said Assistant National Security Attorney General John A. Eisenberg.
The case is part of the Justice Department’s DPRK Revgen: Domestic Promoter Initiative, which was launched in 2024 to target North Korea’s illegal income streams and U.S. promoters.
Related: North Korean hackers set up 3 Shell companies to cheat crypto devs
Ministry of Justice cracks down on North Korea’s crypto fraud
In another incident, federal agents also conducted coordinated raids in 16 states, capturing nearly 30 financial accounts, more than 20 fraudulent websites and about 200 computers from so-called “laptop farms”, allowing North Korean agents to appear as if they were working from the United States.
Ministry of Justice Announce On Sunday, the plans involved North Korean IT workers as North Korean workers who used their stolen identities to get jobs at more than 100 U.S. companies, pooling millions of dollars to Pyongyang and even obtaining sensitive military data.
Last month, the Ministry of Justice Civil forfeiture complaint was filed to seize US$7.74 million In cryptocurrencies, North Korea’s IT workers allegedly impersonate remote blockchain contractors by using fake identities.
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