Christina Marie Chapman, 50, of Litchfield Park, Arizona, was sentenced on Thursday to 102 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Randolph D. Moss in Washington, D.C.
Chapman pleaded guilty in February 2025 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to launder money.
Prosecutors said she helped North Korean operatives pose as American citizens to land remote IT jobs at more than 300 U.S. companies and siphon off funds.
The scheme ran from October 2020 until October 2023 and generated over $17 million in illicit revenue for both Chapman and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
The Scope of the Fraud Scheme
According to the Justice Department, Chapman recruited and hosted computers in a “laptop farm” at her home so U.S. firms believed their remote workers were stateside.
She arranged for 49 company devices to be shipped overseas, including to a Chinese city near North Korea. Investigators seized over 90 laptops from her residence in October 2023.
North Korean IT operatives then used stolen identities of 68 real Americans to apply for remote positions, submitting false paperwork to the Department of Homeland Security more than 100 times.
Impact on U.S. Businesses
The operatives secured contracts through staffing agencies and contractors at 309 U.S. companies and two international firms.
Affected businesses included a leading television network, a Silicon Valley tech firm, an aerospace manufacturer, a major automaker, a luxury retailer and a media and entertainment company.
Attempts to infiltrate two federal agencies largely failed. Chapman’s work enabled the threat actors to access sensitive systems while hiding behind legitimate credentials.
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Government and Law Enforcement Response
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro described the plot as one of the largest North Korean IT worker fraud cases ever charged by the Department of Justice.
She warned that if Fortune 500 firms could be targeted, any company may be at risk if it hires virtual employees without proper verification.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti noted Chapman’s role was crucial to the complex scheme and affirmed the Criminal Division’s resolve to prosecute those aiding hostile nations.
FBI Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky of the Counterintelligence Division explained that North Korea uses its IT workforce abroad to fund nuclear weapons and evade sanctions.
Broader North Korean Operations
A new United Nations report estimated that about 3,000 North Korean IT professionals work overseas, and another 1,000 within the country, bringing in between $250 million and $600 million annually.
The remote workers frequently channel profits back to the regime via complicated networks.
The Justice Department also disclosed that North Korean nationals have employed the same methods to make off with cryptocurrencies and proprietary information to circumvent global sanctions and enrich the state.