2025-07-24 (sentenced) · US

Christina Chapman's laptop farm for North Korean IT workers, 2025

Sentence handed down.

Christina Marie Chapman, 50, of Litchfield Park, Arizona, was sentenced to 102 months in prison for a scheme that helped North Korean IT workers pose as US citizens and residents to get remote IT jobs at 309 US businesses and two international businesses, using 68 identities stolen from US people. DOJ said she ran a laptop farm at her home, hosting company computers so employers believed the work was done in the United States, received forged payroll checks and direct deposits, and shipped about 49 laptops overseas, including to places near the North Korea and China border. Victims included Fortune 500 companies, a major television network and an aerospace manufacturer. The scheme generated more than $17 million in illicit revenue.

$17M (impact; Illicit revenue DOJ says the scheme generated (more than $17 million); this is not a victim loss figure. Separately, Chapman was ordered to forfeit $284,555.92 and pay a $176,850 judgment.)

Timeline

1. 2023-10-01 In October 2023 law enforcement searches Chapman's home and recovers more than 90 laptops.
2. 2025-02-11 Chapman pleads guilty in the District of Columbia to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to launder monetary instruments.
3. 2025-07-24 Chapman is sentenced to 102 months in prison and three years of supervised release.

Lessons

• Verify remote hires' identity on camera against their documents, and check that the address a laptop ships to matches where they say they live.
• Alert on remote-access tools and logins from unexpected countries on laptops issued to remote staff.
• Treat a request to ship equipment to a different address or a third party as a red flag in remote hiring.

Scam types: North Korean fake IT workers

Sources

1. DOJ Office of Public Affairs: Arizona woman sentenced for $17M information technology worker fraud scheme that generated revenue for North Korea (Law enforcement, primary, accessed 2026-09-24)