American woman sentenced to 8.5 years in prison for helping North Korean IT personnel defraud $17 million

According to reports, a woman from Arizona, USA, has been sentenced to 102 months in prison for participating in a fraud scheme. The scheme assisted North Korean information technology (IT) workers in impersonating American citizens and residents to obtain remote IT positions at over 300 American companies. The scheme profited Chapman and brought more than $17 million in illegal income to North Korea. In addition to the 102 months of imprisonment, the U.S. District Court judge also ordered Chapman to serve three years of supervised release and pay a fine of $176,850. This case is one of the largest IT employee fraud cases involving North Korea charged by the Department of Justice, with the identities of 68 American victims stolen and 309 American businesses and two international companies defrauded. According to court documents, North Korea has dispatched thousands of highly skilled IT workers worldwide, including in the U.S., using false, stolen, or borrowed American identities to obtain remote work. To circumvent the controls U.S. companies have put in place to prevent the illegal hiring of overseas IT workers, North Korean IT workers seek assistance from collaborators within the U.S. Chapman aided North Korean IT workers in securing jobs at 309 American companies, including Fortune 500 firms. Affected companies include a top-five major television network, Silicon Valley tech companies, aerospace contractors, automobile manufacturers, luxury goods retailers, and American media and entertainment companies.