An Arizona woman has been handed a prison sentence of over eight years for her involvement in a scheme that facilitated North Korean IT workers to fraudulently gain employment within U.S. companies. According to a report by the U.S. Attorney's Office, Christina Marie Chapman, 50, of Litchfield Park, was sentenced yesterday to 102 months in incarceration. The scheme, which resulted in more than $17 million being funnelled to her and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), involved stolen identities of 68 U.S. citizens and impacted over 300 American companies.
Pleading guilty earlier this year on Feb. 11, Chapman admitted to charges including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and conspiracy to launder monetary instruments. As required by U.S. District Court Judge Randolph D. Moss, apart from her prison term, Chapman will serve three years of supervised release and was ordered to pay a sum of $176,850 in judgment and forfeit another $284,555.92, which was intended for the North Korean contingent.
The case is among the most extensive of its kind prosecuted by the Justice Department with regard to fraudulent activities involving North Korean labor. In a statement obtained by the Justice Department, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro emphasized the department’s commitment to disrupting revenue streams connected to North Korean state-sponsored activities. This case exemplifies the clandestine ways through which North Korea attempts to circumvent international sanctions and generate funds for its regime.
Supporting this sentiment, Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky of the FBI Counterintelligence Division, along with FBI Special Agent in Charge Heith R. Janke of the Phoenix Field Office, and Carissa Messick, Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation's Phoenix Field Office, were all in attendance to announce Chapman's sentencing.
