North Korean IT Workers Charged in $915K Crypto Theft, DOJ Says
Four North Korean nationals have been charged in Georgia for wire fraud and money laundering, having stolen nearly $1 million in cryptocurrency while posing as remote IT workers. The defendants, Kim Kwang Jin, Kang Tae Bok, Jong Pong Ju, and Chang Nam Il, used fake identities to conceal their citizenship and operated from the UAE before securing jobs at a blockchain startup in Atlanta and a Serbian company. They submitted fraudulent documents to obtain these positions. Jong stole approximately $175,000 in February 2022, while Kim exploited smart contract source code to steal $740,000 the following month. The stolen funds were laundered through mixers and sent to accounts controlled by Kang and Chang using fraudulent Malaysian IDs. This case is part of the DOJ’s initiative targeting North Korea’s illicit revenue streams. Federal agents also conducted raids across 16 states, seizing financial accounts, fraudulent websites, and computers used by North Korean operatives posing as US citizens to access sensitive data and funnel millions to North Korea.
