An Arizona woman has been sentenced to more than eight years in federal prison for her role in a massive tech job fraud scheme that secretly funneled over $17 million to North Korea. Christina Marie Chapman, 50, of Litchfield Park, helped North Korean IT workers pose as Americans to get remote jobs at U.S. companies. In doing so, she supported one of the largest known efforts by the North Korean government to raise funds for its weapons program—using stolen American identities and company systems.
Woman Helped North Korean Workers Pose as Americans
According to court documents, Chapman played a critical role in helping North Korean workers gain access to jobs at 309 U.S. companies by using fake, stolen, or borrowed identities. These companies included a top-five television network, a well-known Silicon Valley tech firm, a luxury retailer, an aerospace manufacturer, a U.S. media company, and even a car maker.
Chapman pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and conspiracy to launder money. She was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Randolph D. Moss to 102 months in prison. The court also ordered her to forfeit $284,555.92 and pay an additional judgment of $176,850.
She assisted North Korean workers in passing background checks, managing company devices, and bypassing security systems. Authorities said she went so far as to operate a “laptop farm” in her own home. There, she stored more than 90 laptops and kept detailed notes linking each device to a stolen identity and a specific U.S. company.
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Fake Jobs, Real Companies, and Stolen Identities
Chapman’s scheme enabled foreign workers to appear as though they were working legally from inside the U.S., when in fact, they were operating from locations abroad, including areas close to North Korea. She received IT equipment and paychecks on behalf of the workers, sometimes forging signatures and cashing checks using real names of American citizens who were unaware their identities were being used.
Federal investigators uncovered that Chapman shipped at least 49 company-provided laptops overseas, some of them to a Chinese city bordering North Korea. She also received direct deposits of salaries earned by these workers and then transferred portions of the funds to overseas recipients, laundering the money through various means.
When the FBI searched her residence in October 2023, they seized dozens of laptops and documents detailing the fraudulent activities. The IRS found that many of the stolen identities had been used to falsely report income to both the Internal Revenue Service and the Social Security Administration.
The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorney Ashley R. Pungello and Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen P. Seifert, with support from Paralegal Specialist Jorge Casillas, among others.
U.S. Officials Call Out Serious National Security Risk
Federal officials say the scheme posed not only a financial threat but a direct national security risk. Matthew R. Galeotti, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, described Chapman’s actions as “raising millions of dollars for the DPRK regime while harming U.S. citizens and businesses.”
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Jeanine Ferris Pirro, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, warned that this case shows how North Korea targets American companies and called it “a threat to Main Street in every sense of the word.”
Rozhavsky, Assistant Director of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division, said the sentencing proves that “even an adversary as sophisticated as North Korea cannot succeed without willing U.S. collaborators.” He praised the teamwork between federal agencies in holding Chapman accountable.
Heith Janke, FBI Special Agent in Charge in Phoenix, and Carissa Messick, IRS-Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge, echoed the concerns, stressing that the scheme was elaborate, deeply coordinated, and dangerous.
The FBI, IRS, and other agencies have issued updated guidance in 2024 and 2025 to help companies detect and report suspicious remote work setups. Warnings include red flags such as mismatched time zones, VPN activity masking worker locations, and identities tied to previous fraud alerts.
Chapman’s case marks a major turning point in exposing how foreign governments like North Korea are using digital work opportunities to infiltrate American businesses and funnel money toward hostile programs.