The Department of Justice arrested one person and charged over a dozen more in connection with a fraudulent information technology scam that funded the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea.
United States Attorneys from Massachusetts and Georgia allege that North Korean actors were given remote access to some 100 U.S. companies by posing under false identities with the help of people in the U.S., China, Taiwan, and the United Arab Emirates. The scheme resulted in the theft of $900,000 in virtual currency plus $5 million in revenue.
“These schemes target and steal from U.S. companies and are designed to evade sanctions and fund the North Korean regime’s illicit programs, including its weapons programs,” Assistant Attorney General John A. Eisenberg of the DOJ National Security Division said in a statement.
“The Justice Department, along with our law enforcement, private sector, and international partners, will persistently pursue and dismantle these cyber-enabled revenue generation networks,” he said.
The companies lost a combined $3 million in damages, legal fees, and computer network remediation costs between 2021 and 2024. Some 80 identities were compromised amid the scheme.
Zhenxing “Danny” Wang of New Jersey was arrested as one of the U.S. nationals allegedly involved. He and the other U.S.-based suspects allegedly received $696,000 each from the fraudulent IT team. While the Northern District of Georgia charged four North Korean nationals, Kim Kwang Jin, Kang Tae Bok, Jong Pong Ju, and Chang Nam Il, they remain at large and are wanted by the FBI.
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The FBI conducted searches across 14 states between June 10 and June 17, resulting in the seizure of 137 laptops and 29 financial accounts. As the scheme involved shell companies to shield the North Korean actors and the other conspirators from China, Taiwan, and the UAE, 21 fake websites were also at the center of the scheme.
Six Chinese nationals, including Jing Bin Huang, Baoyu Zhou, Tong Yuze, Yongzhe Xu, Ziyou Yuan, and Zhenbang Zhou, are also facing charges. Further charges were filed against two Taiwanese nationals, Mengting Liu and Enchia Liu.