North Korean Remote Worker Scheme Nets Prison Time for Two Americans
More sentences were handed down in a scheme to employ remote workers from North Korea.
Two Americans were sentenced for operating “laptop farms” that helped North Korean IT workers obtain jobs at nearly 70 American companies. Authorities say the schemes generated more than $1.2 million for the North Korean regime.
Matthew Isaac Knoot of Tennessee and Erick Ntekereze Prince of New York were each sentenced to 18 months in prison in separate cases.
“These were not paperwork violations. They were deliberate acts that exposed U.S. businesses, compromised trust, and supported one of the world’s most dangerous adversaries,” stated U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida.
Prosecutors say both men stored laptops inside their homes that U.S. companies shipped to IT workers they hired. The companies believed the workers were located at the defendants’ residences, when in fact they were overseas working for the North Korean government.
The duo also installed remote desktop software on the computers to make it appear the workers were operating from U.S. locations.
“These defendants helped North Korean ‘IT workers’ masquerade as legitimate employees, compromising U.S. corporate networks and helping generate revenue for a heavily sanctioned and rogue regime,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg.
Scheme Details
Prince pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy in November. Prosecutors say he helped at least three North Korean IT workers secure jobs at U.S. companies between June 2020 and August 2024, through his company, Taggcar Inc. Companies paid more than $943,000 in salaries to the workers with the majority of the money sent overseas.
The FBI Miami Field Office investigated the case.
Knoot operated a “laptop farm” from his Nashville homes between July 2022 and August 2023. His scheme generated more than $250,000 from at least four American companies and caused more than $500,000 in auditing and remediation costs.
The FBI Nashville Field Office investigated the case.
“Hosting laptops for DPRK IT workers is a federal crime which directly impacts our national security, and these sentences should serve as a warning to anyone considering it,” noted Assistant Director Brett Leatherman of the FBI’s Cyber Division.
Expanding Cases
The sentencing marks the latest action under the DOJ’s Domestic Enabler Initiative which aims to disrupt North Korea revenue-generation operations and target U.S.-based facilitators of such schemes.
In April, two New Jersey residents were sentenced for helping North Korean workers pose as U.S. residents.
And last July, an Arizona woman was sentenced to 102 months in prison for running a laptop farm that helped North Korean workers get hired by over 300 U.S. companies.
