Overview
- Christina Chapman received a 102-month prison term, must forfeit $284,555.92 and pay $176,850 following her February guilty plea.
- Authorities say Chapman ran a ‘laptop farm’ in her Litchfield Park home to mask North Korean operatives as U.S. remote IT staff.
- The fraud involved the theft of 68 American identities and placement of North Korean workers at 309 U.S. companies, including Fortune 500 firms.
- U.S. prosecutors estimate the network generated over $17 million in illicit revenue for Chapman and North Korea’s regime.
- Justice Department and FBI officials call the sentence a precedent in countering sanctions evasion and urge firms to strengthen remote-hiring safeguards.