An Arizona woman was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison for operating a 'laptop farm' that helped a North Korean worker hide his identity and work as a remote worker at 309 companies to earn more than 2.5 billion yen.

North Korea has been sending its workers to Fortune 100 companies and IT companies as remote workers, conducting a migrant work operation . An Arizona woman who ran a 'laptop farm' that was the base of this migrant work operation has been sentenced to eight and a half years in prison.

District of Columbia | Arizona Woman Sentenced in $17M IT Worker Fraud Scheme That Illegal Generated Revenue for North Korea | United States Department of Justice
https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/arizona-woman-sentenced-17m-it-worker-fraud-scheme-illegally-generated-revenue-north

North Korean hackers ran US-based “laptop farm” from Arizona woman's home - Ars Technica
https://arstechnica.com/security/2025/07/north-korean-hackers-ran-us-based-laptop-farm-from-arizona-womans-home/

Woman gets 8 years for aiding North Koreans infiltrate 300 US firms
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/us-woman-sentenced-to-8-years-in-prison-for-running-laptop-farm-helping-north-koreans-infiltrate-300-firms/

North Korea Infiltrated America by Taking Remote US IT Jobs - Bloomberg
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2025-07-24/north-korea-infiltrated-america-by-taking-remote-us-it-jobs

On July 24, 2025 local time, the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia announced that Christina Marie Chapman (age 50), a resident of Litchfield Park, Arizona, USA, was sentenced to 102 months (8.5 years) in prison in a district court.

Chapman is accused of participating in a fraud scheme that helped North Korean workers posing as U.S. citizens and residents obtain remote IT jobs at 309 U.S. companies and two international companies. The scheme earned Chapman and North Korea more than $17 million, announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Felice Pirro and Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti of the Justice Department's Criminal Division.

Chapman was sentenced in the District of Columbia on February 11, 2025, and pleaded guilty to wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and financial laundering conspiracy. Judge Randolph D. Moss sentenced Chapman to three years of probation, forfeiture of $284,555.92 (approximately 42 million yen) that was to be paid to North Korea, and ordered him to pay a fine of $176,850 (approximately 26 million yen).

Chapman is alleged to have engaged in a scheme between October 2020 and October 2023 to aid the North Korean government in 'illegally infiltrating the U.S. job market to generate revenue for its nuclear weapons development program.' Chapman was arrested in Arizona on May 15, 2024.

The US Department of Justice indicted five people on suspicion of defrauding more than 300 companies to hire IT workers related to North Korea and earn money for nuclear development - GIGAZINE

'The defendant's role as a U.S.-based intermediary was crucial in North Korea's complex scheme to defraud U.S. businesses and steal the identities of U.S. citizens,' Deputy Attorney General Galeotti said. 'This multiyear scheme highlights the unique threat posed by North Korea to American businesses that employ remote workers. The Criminal Division remains steadfast in its commitment to identifying and prosecuting individuals who facilitate these criminal schemes against U.S. businesses.'

'The North Korean regime has made millions of dollars for its nuclear weapons program at the expense of American people, companies and financial institutions,' said FBI Deputy Director General Rosavsky, who was instrumental in the arrest of Chapman and the other defendants. 'But even a sophisticated adversary like the North Korean government could not succeed without the assistance of willing Americans like Christina Marie Chapman. Chapman was sentenced today for her role in an elaborate scheme to defraud more than 300 American companies by providing virtual employment to North Korean IT workers and laundering the funds she earned. Today's sentence demonstrates the FBI's continued work with partners to protect our homeland and hold accountable those who support our adversaries.'

According to court documents, North Korea has sent thousands of highly skilled IT workers around the world, including to the United States. The pseudonyms used are personal information of Americans stolen from companies during the migrant work operation. In April 2024, it was revealed that Western companies were outsourcing animation production to North Korean animators, and Japanese anime was also involved in this.

North Korean animation production companies are evading sanctions to undertake anime production in Japan and overseas - GIGAZINE

Chapman and his co-conspirators allegedly sent North Korean workers to 309 U.S. companies, including Fortune 500 companies, often through temporary staffing agencies or other contracting organizations. Affected companies include the top five major television networks, Silicon Valley technology companies, aerospace manufacturers, automakers, luxury retailers, and media and entertainment companies. The North Korean labor migration scheme also involved embedding remote workers in two different U.S. government agencies, but these schemes were largely unsuccessful.

Chapman operated a facility known as a 'laptop farm' that operated computers received from American companies at his home. This was to make remote workers employed by the companies appear to be working in the United States. Chapman shipped 49 laptops and other devices overseas. Chapman's laptop farm is as follows, and it is said that more than 90 laptops were in operation.

Chapman's home contained laptops belonging to American companies, with notes attached to each laptop indicating which company it came from.

According to Chapman's public defender , his childhood was mentally devastating due to his father's infidelity and alcoholism. Chapman had to transfer to 12 schools across multiple states before graduating from high school, which left him socially isolated and bullied, preventing him from forming lasting friendships or a sense of belonging. He was also subject to severe violence from his older brother, who repeatedly beat him, choked him, and once held a shotgun to his chest. In addition, Chapman suffered various sexual abuses from his childhood and adolescence by people he considered family, peers, and friends, his public defender said.

In response to this situation, the FBI has provided guidance to US companies outlining precautions they should take when hiring IT workers as remote workers.

Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) | North Korean IT Worker Threats to US Businesses
https://www.ic3.gov/PSA/2025/PSA250723-4