5 plead guilty to laptop farm and ID theft scheme to land North Koreans US IT jobs

Five men pleaded guilty to running laptop farms and assisting North Koreans to obtain remote IT work at US companies, with prosecutors saying the offences violated US law and involved the APT38 Lazarus group. According to US Justice Department, the schemes created the appearance that North Korean IT workers were based in the US by hosting employer laptops at defendants’ residences and by using fraudulent identities.

The defendants’ actions affected more than 136 US victim companies, generated more than $2.2 million in revenue for the DPRK regime, and compromised the identities of more than 18 US persons. Four men—Audricus Phagnasay, 24; Jason Salazar, 30; Alexander Paul Travis, 34; and Erick Ntekereze Prince, 30—pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud, with Didenko pleading guilty to one count of aggravated identity theft in addition to wire fraud.

Travis, an active-duty US Army member at the time, received at least $51,397, while Phagnasay and Salazar earned at least $3,450 and $4,500 respectively, and the overall fraudulent jobs paid about $1.28 million in salary to workers overseas; the DOJ is seeking forfeiture of more than $15 million in USDT linked to the case.