A TikTok influencer from Arizona has been sentenced to over eight years in prison for running an elaborate scheme that helped North Korean operatives secure remote tech jobs at hundreds of U.S. companies, threatening national security.
Christina Marie Chapman, 50, received a 102-month prison sentence from a federal judge in Washington, D.C., after pleading guilty to charges including wire fraud conspiracy, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering conspiracy. She will also serve three years of supervised release, forfeit over $284,000, and pay nearly $177,000 in restitution.
According to prosecutors, Chapman operated a “laptop farm” from her Arizona home starting in 2020. She connected work computers sent by U.S. employers to North Korean IT workers based primarily in China and near North Korea, making it appear as if the operatives were working remotely from within the United States.
Investigators said she went further by shipping at least 49 devices to overseas locations, including cities near the China–North Korea border. When authorities searched her home in October 2023, they found over 90 laptops, many labelled with the names of Americans whose identities were used in the scheme.
Chapman’s operation used at least 68 stolen identities to deceive 309 American companies and two international firms. Some job applications even targeted U.S. government agencies, although none of those attempts were successful.
The Department of Justice said the scheme generated more than $17 million in illicit income, benefiting Chapman and North Korea’s government. Prosecutors warned that the operation gave foreign operatives virtual access to sensitive sectors, including Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, aerospace firms, and major Silicon Valley tech companies.
Beyond managing the technical setup, Chapman forged payroll checks, received direct deposits into her accounts, and transferred earnings overseas while falsely reporting them under victims’ names to the IRS and Social Security Administration. She also maintained detailed records linking each device to specific stolen identities and employers.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on North Korean and Russian Nationals for Aiding DPRK Crypto Infiltration Schemes.
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