Two Americans sentenced to prison for North Korean tech worker scheme

Also: Two U.S. Nationals Sentenced for Facilitating Fraudulent Remote Worker Scheme that Generated $5 Million in Revenue for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's WMD Programs (U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts)

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Source: CNN

Two Americans sentenced to prison for North Korean tech worker scheme

Updated Apr 16, 2026
Updated Apr 16, 2026, 9:11 PM ET
PUBLISHED Apr 15, 2026, 5:30 PM ET
By Sean Lyngaas

Two Americans have been sentenced to years in prison for their roles in a covert scheme that defrauded major US companies while generating $5 million for the North Korean regime, the Justice Department said Wednesday.

Zhenxing “Danny” Wang, 39, and Kejia “Tony” Wang, 42, both of New Jersey, were alleged middlemen in an elaborate conspiracy that involved tricking Fortune 500 companies to hire overseas tech workers who stole the identities of various Americans. A federal court in Boston sentenced Zhenxing Wang to over seven years in prison and Kejia Wang to nine years in prison.

At the heart of the scheme were “laptop farms” — or clusters of US company-issued computers — that Wang and Wang allegedly managed from their homes in the US. Those laptops gave the overseas tech workers a foothold into major American companies to draw salaries and in one case steal export-controlled data from a California-based defense contractor.

Other companies who unwittingly paid the overseas tech workers include a semiconductor distributor in Massachusetts and a software development firm in California, according to prosecutors.

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Read more: https://edition.cnn.com/2026/04/15/politics/americans-sentenced-prison-north-korean-tech-worker-scheme

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Source: U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts

Two U.S. Nationals Sentenced for Facilitating Fraudulent Remote Worker Scheme that Generated $5 Million in Revenue for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's WMD Programs

Wednesday, April 15, 2026
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts

The defendants operated “laptop farms” intended to deceive employers into believing they had hired U.S.-based IT workers

BOSTON – Two men from New Jersey have been sentenced in federal court in Boston for their involvement in a scheme to generate revenue for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programs. The scheme involved the dispatchment of skilled information technology (IT) workers who, using stolen identities of U.S. persons, posed as domestic workers to obtain remote IT jobs with U.S. companies, including several Fortune 500 companies and a defense contractor. The multi-year scheme used the stolen identities of at least 80 U.S. persons and generated more than $5 million in illicit revenue for the DPRK government.

Kejia “Tony” Wang, 42, of New Jersey, was sentenced today by U.S. Senior District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton to nine years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. In September 2025, Kejia Wang pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and conspiracy to commit identity theft.

Yesterday, Zhenxing “Danny” Wang, 39, also of New Jersey, was sentenced by Judge Gorton to 92 months prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. The defendant was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $200,000. On Jan. 7, 2026, Zhenxing Wang pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

In addition to the prison sentences imposed, the defendants were also ordered to forfeit $600,000 that they received in connection with the scheme. To date, the United States has received $400,000 of the ordered forfeiture amount.

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Read more: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/two-us-nationals-sentenced-facilitating-fraudulent-remote-worker-scheme-generated-5