Four people face prison in the latest crackdown on North Korean-led cybercriminals
Federal prosecutors have charged four North Korean nationals with wire fraud and money laundering in connection to a cryptocurrency theft totaling nearly $1 million. According to a statement released by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) on Monday, the individuals allegedly posed as remote IT workers for blockchain companies in the United States and Serbia to infiltrate systems and siphon digital assets.
The accused—Kim Kwang Jin, Kang Tae Bok, Jong Pong Ju, and Chang Nam Il—are said to have used stolen and falsified identification documents to conceal their true identities and North Korean citizenship. The DOJ noted that the group operated out of the United Arab Emirates starting in 2019 before securing remote positions at an Atlanta-based blockchain startup and a Serbian crypto firm between late 2020 and mid-2021.
Federal investigators say Kim and Jong submitted fraudulent employment documentation to gain access to internal platforms. From there, the group allegedly carried out two major thefts: Jong reportedly took around $175,000 in crypto in February 2022, while Kim exploited vulnerabilities in smart contracts a month later to steal approximately $740,000.
Today, the FBI and @TheJusticeDept announced nationwide actions to disrupt North Korean schemes to defraud American companies through remote IT work, which included the arrest of a U.S. national who allegedly hosted a laptop farm for North Korean actors https://t.co/3IC28oaMFa pic.twitter.com/rsx0EPO0nu
— FBI (@FBI) June 30, 2025
The stolen assets were then laundered using mixing services and transferred to accounts operated by Kang and Chang, who had created exchange profiles using fake Malaysian IDs. Authorities described the fraud as part of a broader North Korean effort to bypass international sanctions and fund state-run programs, including those related to weapons development.
The case is part of the DOJ’s ongoing “DPRK RevGen: Domestic Enabler Initiative,” a program targeting illicit revenue operations supporting the North Korean government.
In a related crackdown, federal agents recently raided “laptop farms” across 16 states, seizing hundreds of computers, financial accounts, and fraudulent websites linked to North Korean operatives. These actors reportedly posed as American citizens to gain remote work, affecting over 100 US companies and accessing sensitive data.
