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North Korean officials accused the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) of running “an absurd smear campaign” after announcing that it had unraveled several schemes by the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea (DPRK) to fund the regime through remote information technology work for U.S. companies.
Earlier this week, the DOJ said North Korean actors were helped by individuals in the U.S., China, the United Emirates and Taiwan to obtain employment with over 100 U.S. companies, including Fortune 500 companies.
The scheme allegedly involved the workers getting laptops from the companies that hired them and allowing remote North Korean IT workers to remotely access the computers. In another scheme, North Korean IT workers used false identities to gain employment with a blockchain research and development company in Atlanta, Georgia, and steal over $900,000 in virtual currency.
As part of its announcement about the North Korean scheme, the DOJ unsealed a five-count indictment against Zhenxing Wang, a U.S. national living in New Jersey, who has since been arrested.
The DOJ also announced that the FBI and Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) seized 17 web domains used as part of the scheme, along with 29 financial accounts holding tens of thousands of dollars, used to launder revenue for the North Korean regime.
The DOJ unveiled another part of the scheme, which resulted in a five-count wire fraud and money laundering indictment against four North Korean nationals: Kim Kwang Jin, Kang Tae Bok, Jong Pong Ju and Change Nam II.
The suspects are accused of scheming to steal virtual currency from two companies, with a value of over $900,000 at the time of the thefts, and to launder the proceeds.
All four nationals, the DOJ said, are at large and wanted by the FBI.