An Arizona woman has been sentenced to over eight years in federal prison for helping North Korean operatives get remote jobs at U.S. cryptocurrency and tech companies using fake identities.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia announced on Thursday that Christina Marie Chapman was convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering conspiracy. She received about 8.5 years prison sentence.
Prosecutors said Chapman assisted North Korean nationals linked to the DPRK in securing remote IT jobs at more than 300 U.S. companies. These workers pretended to be U.S. citizens or residents, generating over $17 million in illegal income.
Chapman pleaded guilty on February 11. Along with her prison term, she must serve three years of supervised release, forfeit over $284,000 in assets connected to the scheme, and repay nearly $177,000 in restitution.
This case is one of the largest involving North Korean IT worker schemes ever prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice. It included the theft of identities from 68 U.S. citizens and the defrauding of 309 American companies, along with two international firms.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on two individuals and four entities linked to a North Korea-operated IT worker network accused of infiltrating cryptocurrency companies for exploitation. In a post on X, the Treasury stated that North Korea uses the money from these activities to fund its weapons of mass destruction program.
