US Citizens Plead Guilty to Aiding North Korean IT Worker Campaigns

US citizens have pled guilty to aiding North Korean IT worker campaigns, with the US Department of Justice confirming five individuals admitted to facilitating schemes by providing false identities and remote access to employer laptops. The DoJ also announced the seizure of more than $15 in cryptocurrency tied to hacking activity by the state‑sponsored APT38, also known as Lazarus Group.

One suspect, Erick Ntekereze Prince, 30, is said to have supported the campaigns through his company Taggcar Inc., with DoJ saying from June 2020 to August 2024 Taggcar knowingly provided “certified” IT workers to US companies based outside the US, using false and stolen identities to gain employment and hosting employer‑owned laptops at locations in Florida to install remote access software.

The five guilty pleas include four US citizens and a fifth individual, Oleksandr Didenko, a Ukrainian national, with others named as Audricus Phagnasay, Jason Salazar and Alexander Paul Travis. In total, the schemes affected about 40 US companies and involved payments of hundreds of thousands of dollars.