"He admitted to participating in a "years-long scheme that stole the identities of US citizens and sold them to overseas IT workers, including North Korean IT workers, so they could fraudulently gain employment at 40 US companies." Didenko received hundreds of thousands of dollars from victim companies who hired the fraudulent applicants. As part of the plea agreement, Didenko is forfeiting more than $1.4 million, including more than $570,000 in fiat and virtual currency seized from him and his co-conspirators."
"In 2022, the US Treasury Department said that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea employs thousands of skilled IT workers around the world to generate revenue for the country's weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs. "In many cases, DPRK IT workers represent themselves as US-based and/or non-North Korean teleworkers," Treasury Department officials wrote. The workers may further obfuscate their identities and/or location by sub-contracting work to non North Koreans."
Several defendants assisted overseas IT workers in passing employer vetting, including appearing for drug testing on behalf of applicants. An active-duty U.S. Army member received at least $51,397 for his participation; other participants earned thousands. The fraudulent positions generated roughly $1.28 million in salary payments from U.S. companies, with the majority sent overseas to the IT workers. One defendant, Oleksandr Didenko, pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft and wire fraud, admitted to stealing U.S. identities and selling them to overseas IT workers, and is forfeiting more than $1.4 million. U.S. Treasury links DPRK IT labor to revenue for weapons programs and notes identity obfuscation and possible forced labor.
Read at Ars Technica
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]