Tennessee man charged with fraud involving North Korean teleworker – DL News

A resident of Nashville, Tennessee, was arrested and charged by the FBI with raising funds for North Korea's weapons program by helping workers from that country pose as U.S. citizens and get remote jobs at American and British technology companies, the Justice Department said.

Matthew Isaac Knoot, 38, helped North Koreans pose as U.S. citizens using stolen identities, hosted company laptops in his home, downloaded and installed software without authorization, and helped launder payments for remote IT work, including to accounts linked to North Korean and Chinese actors.

“North Korea has deployed thousands of highly skilled IT workers around the world to deceive unsuspecting companies and evade international sanctions so it can continue to fund its dangerous weapons program,” said U.S. Attorney Henry C. Leventis for the Middle District of Tennessee.

According to the Justice Department, fraudulent schemes by North Korean IT employees include the use of pseudonymous email, social media, payment platform and online job board accounts, as well as fake websites, proxy computers and knowing and unwitting third parties in the United States and elsewhere.

A recent DL News Investigations revealed that fake applicants were flooding job boards with fake resumes, with evidence suggesting that many of these fake applicants were North Korean nationals attempting to infiltrate crypto projects for nefarious purposes.

According to the UN Security Council, more than 4,000 North Koreans have been tricked into concealing their identities and obtaining jobs in the Western technology industry, including the crypto industry.

Using Knoot's remote desktop applications, the North Koreans were able to work from locations in China while making it appear to the affected companies as if they were working from Nashville.

For his participation in the system, Knoot received a monthly fee from a foreign-based intermediary named Yang Di.

Knoot is charged with conspiracy to damage protected computers, conspiracy to launder money, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, willful damage to protected computers, aggravated identity theft, and conspiracy to illegally employ aliens.

If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, including a minimum sentence of two years for aggravated identity theft.