Four North Korean nationals have been charged with wire fraud and money laundering in the United States after posing as remote IT developers at blockchain companies in the US and Serbia. The accused—Kim Kwang Jin, Kang Tae Bok, Jong Pong Ju, and Chang Nam Il—used fake identities to gain employment, allowing them to steal nearly $1 million in cryptocurrency. According to the Department of Justice, the group operated initially from the UAE before infiltrating the Atlanta-based blockchain startup and a Serbian token company between late 2020 and mid-2021. Prosecutors noted that the stolen funds were laundered through mixers and sent to exchange accounts controlled by two of the accused using fabricated Malaysian IDs. This theft is part of broader efforts to fund North Korea's illicit programs, including weapon development. This case is a focus of the Justice Department's initiative targeting North Korea's revenue-generating schemes, which have included coordinated operations leading to the seizure of multiple fraudulent websites and financial accounts. The Attorney General emphasized that these actions pose a significant threat to US businesses hiring remote IT workers.

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