Overview

• A five-count indictment in Atlanta charges Kim Kwang Jin, Kang Tae Bok, Jong Pong Ju and Chang Nam Il with wire fraud and money laundering for stealing about $915,000 in virtual currency by posing as remote IT workers.
• The FBI has posted wanted notices with the suspects’ photos and is offering rewards of up to $5 million for information leading to their capture and disruption of North Korean cyber operations.
• The Department of Justice unsealed additional charges against U.S. national Zhenxing “Danny” Wang and several Chinese and Taiwanese facilitators for helping compromise over 80 American identities and secure remote jobs at more than 100 companies.
• Officials say the broader scheme from 2021 through mid-2024 inflicted at least $3 million in damages by using “laptop farms,” shell firms, web domains and hundreds of financial accounts to launder funds to the North Korean regime.
• North Korea’s Foreign Ministry denounced the indictments as an “absurd smear campaign” and warned it would take proportionate countermeasures, highlighting escalating tensions over state-sponsored cybercrime.