A U.S. citizen has been charged with helping North Korean actors obtain remote IT work and laundering their salaries to fund the country’s weapons program.
Matthew Isaac Knoot, of Nashville, Tennessee, was arrested Thursday for his efforts to “generate revenue for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s illicit weapons program, which includes weapons of mass destruction,” according to a Justice Department statement.
Knoot, 38, allegedly helped North Korean citizens use stolen identities to pose as U.S. citizens, allowing them to obtain employment with U.S. and British companies as independent IT workers.
Between July 2022 and August 2023, the Justice Department said, Knoot operated a “laptop farm” from his Nashville residence. Using unauthorized software installed on computers sent to Knoot by the victim companies, the North Korean actors were then able to pose as Tennessee residents while working from locations in China.
Jose Luis Magana/Associated Press
These foreign workers each received more than $250,000 for their work during that period, the statement said, which Knoot then helped transfer to non-U.S. accounts “associated with North Korean and Chinese actors.”
Newsweek contacted the North Korean embassy in London to inquire about the matter.
“As alleged, this defendant facilitated a scheme to deceive U.S. companies into hiring remote foreign IT workers who received hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue funneled to the DPRK for its weapons program,” according to Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.
“This indictment should serve as a stark warning to American companies that employ remote IT workers about the growing threat posed by the DPRK and the need to be vigilant in their hiring processes.”
Wong Maye/Associated Press
According to a 2022 joint advisory from the FBI, DOJ, and State Department, North Korea sends “thousands” of IT workers around the world, who can earn up to $300,000 a year.
“The North Korean government withholds up to 90 percent of foreign workers’ wages, generating hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenue for the government,” the notice said, adding that the funds “support the DPRK regime’s priorities, including its weapons of mass destruction program.”
Knoot’s actions reportedly cost the companies more than $500,000 in fees, and he now faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted on the charges, which include conspiracy to commit wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to procure the illegal employment of aliens. He has not yet entered a plea.
Bryan Vorndran, Assistant Director of the FBI’s Cyber Division, said: “Where illicit revenue can be used to fund the regime’s kinetic capability, we will prioritize our work to disrupt that flow of money. This indictment should demonstrate the risk faced by those who support the DPRK’s malicious cyber activities.”
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