August 8, 2024 at 05:03PM
The FBI arrested Matthew Isaac Knoot, a Tennessee man, for running a “laptop farm” scheme that outsourced IT jobs to North Koreans while posing as a US citizen. The scheme allegedly helped fund Pyongyang’s weapons programs and earned over $250,000 per job. Knoot faces charges that could lead to 20 years in prison.
From the meeting notes, the key takeaways are:
– FBI arrested Matthew Isaac Knoot, a Tennessee man suspected of running a “laptop farm” that provided North Koreans with IT jobs at American and British companies.
– Knoot is alleged to have defrauded multiple US and UK companies by applying for remote technology jobs and then outsourcing the work to North Koreans, using a stolen identity.
– The laptops were set up so that North Koreans could remotely log in and do the work, allegedly generating over $250,000 per job and funneling the money to the North Korean and Chinese accounts to fund the Kim Jong Un government.
– Knoot was paid every month by a person named Yang Di for keeping his part of the scam running.
– Knoot faces a variety of charges, including conspiracy to unlawfully employ foreigners, and could face up to 20 years in prison, with a minimum of two years if convicted for aggravated identity theft.
The notes also mention the FBI’s ongoing efforts to disrupt and dismantle similar laptop farm operations, including a previous case involving an Arizona woman who allegedly made $6.8 million through a similar scheme.