An Arizona woman was sentenced to eight years in prison on Thursday for running a “laptop farm” scheme that generated $17 million for herself and North Korean remote workers in information technology.
As part of her sentencing, Christina Marie Chapman, 50, was also ordered to forfeit nearly $285,000 that was earmarked for North Koreans, fined nearly $177,000, and will serve three years of supervised release after her prison term ends.
The Department of Justice called Chapman’s actions one of the largest worker fraud schemes the department has ever charged. It involved 68 stolen identities that aided North Korean IT workers in obtaining jobs at 309 U.S. companies, including Fortune 500 companies, the department said.
“Chapman operated a ‘laptop farm’ where she received and hosted computers from the U.S. companies at her home, deceiving the companies into believing that the work was being performed in the United States, ” the department said.
“North Korea is not just a threat to the homeland from afar. It is an enemy within. It is perpetrating fraud on American citizens, American companies, and American banks. It is a threat to Main Street in every sense of the word,” said Jeanine Ferris Pirro, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, in a statement.
“If this happened to these big banks, to these Fortune 500, brand name, quintessential American companies, it can or is happening at your company. Corporations failing to verify virtual employees pose a security risk for all.”
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