14 North Koreans are accused of being a part of a long-running plot that reportedly includes extorting money from US businesses and funneling money to Pyongyang’s arms programs by a federal judge in St. Louis.
Dozens of North Korean IT professionals reportedly work remotely for US companies using false, stolen, and borrowed names from individuals in the US and other countries.
According to the indictment, the defendants and others who worked with them allegedly contributed at least$ 88 million ( £51.5 ) to the North Korean regime over the course of six years.
BBC News contacted North Korea’s UN for post, but the UN did not respond right away.
The lawyers say the defendants worked for two Northern Korean-controlled businesses- China-based Yanbian Silverstar and Russia-based Volasys Silverstar.
According to the US Department of Justice, they were one of 130 North Korean IT professionals employed by the two companies, where they were privately referred to as “IT Soldiers.”
The suspects were allegedly ordered to seek salaries of$ 10, 000 a month from their US employers.
They may also raise money for the North Korean regime by threatening to drip sensitive business information and extorting it unless the employer offered an extortion payment.
The team is now facing line fraud, money laundering, identity theft and other fees.
In addition to avoiding detection, prosecutors claimed they paid US residents to collect, set up, and sponsor notebooks provided by US employers.
Then they would guide those US citizens to install remote access software that may make it appear as though they were working from home.
Because of their presumption of being in North Korea, it is doubtful that the suspects may ever face justice.
The US State Department has nevertheless stated that it will offer a reward of up to$ 5 million for anyone who can provide more details about the suspects as well as Yanbian and Volasys.
The British businesses targeted by the system have not been identified by US authorities.
” While we have disrupted this class and identified its leadership, this is just the tip of the iceberg”, said Special Agent in Charge Ashley T. Johnson of the FBI St. Louis Field Office.
” The North Korean government has trained and deployed hundreds of IT professionals daily to use this same program against US firms.”