US man arrested for 'laptop farm' fuelling North Korean weapons programs

Authorities have arrested a Tennessean man for running a "laptop farm" that deceived US and UK companies into thinking they hired American residents for positions when really they were hiring North Koreans.

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The US Justice Department took to its website to post a press release about the arrest, with the authority writing that Matthew Isaac Knoot, a 38-year-old from Nashville, Tennesse, was arrested today for his efforts to generate revenue for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's (DPRK or North Korea) weapons programs. According to the Justice Department, Knoot was running a "laptop farm" scheme that involved deceiving American and British companies with remote employment.

The press release states the American and British companies were deceived into hiring North Korean's that Knoot then assisted in using stolen identities to pose as US citizens. Knoot is accused of hosting company laptops at his place of residence, downloading and installing software without authorization to enable users to conduct deception, and conspiracy to launder payments for the remote work.

"As alleged, this defendant facilitated a scheme to deceive U.S. companies into hiring foreign remote IT workers who were paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in income funneled to the DPRK for its weapons program," said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department's National Security Division. "This indictment should serve as a stark warning to U.S. businesses that employ remote IT workers of the growing threat from the DPRK and the need to be vigilant in their hiring processes."

"North Korea has dispatched thousands of highly skilled information technology workers around the world to dupe unwitting businesses and evade international sanctions so that it can continue to fund its dangerous weapons program," said U.S. Attorney Henry C. Leventis for the Middle District of Tennessee. "Today's indictment, charging the defendant with facilitating a complex, multi-year scheme that funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars to foreign actors, is the most recent example of our office's commitment to protecting the United States' national security interests."