An Arizona woman was sentenced to more than eight years in prison on Thursday after she pleaded guilty to helping North Korean tech workers secure remote jobs with hundreds of U.S. firms using false identities.
Christina Marie Chapman, 50, of Litchfield Park, Ariz., helped North Korean workers gain IT positions at 309 U.S. businesses as part of a scheme that reaped in more than $17 million, mostly for Pyongyang, according to a Justice Department statement.
The department said much of the income was falsely reported to the IRS and Social Security Administration using the names of actual U.S. citizens, who had their identities stolen or borrowed. The scheme created false tax liabilities for 68 Americans whose identities were compromised, according to the DOJ.
“The impacted companies included a top-five major television network, a Silicon Valley technology company, an aerospace manufacturer, an American car maker, a luxury retail store, and a U.S media and entertainment company,” the DOJ said in its release.
In the wake of the scheme, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro urged companies to be more vigilant when vetting remote workers.
“North Korea is not just a threat to the homeland from afar. It is an enemy within. It is perpetrating fraud on American citizens, American companies and American banks. It is a threat to Main Street in every sense of the word,” Pirro said in a statement.
“The call is coming from inside the house. If this happened to these big banks, to these Fortune 500, brand name, quintessential American companies, it can or is happening at your company. Corporations failing to verify virtual employees pose a security risk for all. You are the first line of defense against the North Korean threat,” she added.
Last year, the Justice Department made multiple arrests in connection to foreign remote workers who gained U.S. employment with stolen identities.
In response to the latest scheme, U.S. District Court Judge Randolph D. Moss ordered Chapman to serve three years of supervised release in addition to the 102-month prison sentence.
She will also be required to forfeit nearly $285,000 that was to be paid to the North Koreans and pay a judgement of more than $175,000.
Chapman pleaded guilty on Feb. 11 in the District of Columbia to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to launder monetary instruments, the DOJ said.
