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The Trump administration on Wednesday imposed new sanctions targeting a system run by the North Korean government that the Treasury Department says uses fraudulent identities to place IT workers at legitimate U.S. companies and funnel their revenue into Pyongyang’s weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs.
Ten individuals and one entity accused of helping operate or finance these projects were sanctioned by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
According to the Treasury, workers allegedly used stolen identities, fraudulent documents and false identities to obtain legitimate jobs in the technology sector in the United States and allied countries.
“The North Korean regime continues to target and exploit U.S. companies through fraudulent activities carried out by its overseas cyber operatives, who use sensitive data and extort companies for substantial payments,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.
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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced sanctions targeting individuals and an entity accused of facilitating a North Korean computer fraud scheme involving U.S. companies. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/Getty Images)
“Under President Trump’s leadership, Treasury will continue to use every tool available to protect American businesses from these malicious activities and hold those responsible accountable,” he continued.
According to the Treasury, the scheme involved North Korean workers concealing their identity and nationality to obtain employment at legitimate companies.
Once employed, the regime allegedly collected most of their salaries, generating hundreds of millions of dollars that the Treasury says helped fund North Korea’s weapons programs.
The new sanctions target individuals and an entity accused of supporting these projects on behalf of the North Korean government.
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The Treasury Department says North Korea used overseas IT workers operating under false identities to generate revenue for the regime’s weapons programs. (Budrul Chukrut/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The Treasury also said North Korean IT workers deployed malware, stole sensitive data and proprietary information, and extorted companies, posing risks to businesses around the world.
The networks used cryptocurrencies, sophisticated money laundering techniques and artificial intelligence tools to generate and transfer funds for the North Korean government, according to the Treasury.
Among those sanctioned is Russian intermediary Vitold Viktorovich Obertas, who allegedly processed nearly $2 million in cryptocurrency conversions and at least $1.25 million in other currency transactions for North Korean officials since January 2025.
Another Russian national, Ilya Alexandrovich Boykov, allegedly supported a previously sanctioned North Korean entity by facilitating cryptocurrency transactions worth the equivalent of $3.5 million since 2024.
The Treasury said the First Financial and Technical Development Center, a North Korean-controlled entity located in Russia, deployed highly trained North Korean computer scientists who allegedly used “super intelligence (SI) tools” and sophisticated money laundering methods, including complex cryptocurrency transfers.
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President Donald Trump’s administration has imposed new sanctions against a North Korean network accused of using fraudulent IT employment schemes to generate revenue for Pyongyang. (Alex WROBLEWSKI / AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The Treasury had already imposed separate sanctions against another North Korean computer network in March.
The sanctions block property and interests in property owned by the designated persons and entity that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons and generally prohibit U.S. persons from engaging in transactions involving them unless authorized by OFAC.
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