Two US Men Sentenced for NK Laptop Farm Scheme

Federal prosecutors secured prison sentences for two American men this month for operating laptop farms that enabled North Korean IT workers to infiltrate U.S. companies under false pretenses, part of a broader crackdown yielding eight convictions in five months.

Matthew Isaac Knoot of Nashville, Tennessee, received 18 months in prison on May 1. Erick Ntekereze Prince of New York was sentenced the same week to 18 months. Prince must forfeit $89,000, the sum North Korean workers paid him. Knoot faces $15,100 in restitution to victim companies and an additional $15,100 forfeiture matching his earnings. The U.S. Department of Justice stated the pair's actions generated $1.2 million in revenue for North Korea across nearly 70 U.S. companies.

The scheme relied on a simple deception. U.S. firms shipped laptops to addresses controlled by Knoot and Prince, believing they belonged to newly hired remote employees. The men installed remote desktop software on the devices, allowing overseas North Korean workers to control them and appear to log in from U.S. locations. Victim companies paid salaries that flowed back to North Korea, authorities said.

Prince operated through his company...