Two US citizens get combined 16 years in prison for running North Korean laptop farms — fake remote IT work scheme netted DPRK $5 million in around three years

Two individuals from New Jersey have been sentenced to a combined 16 years in prison for operating laptop farms that enabled North Korean IT workers to pose as Americans and work for U.S. companies, generating around $5 million for North Korea over three years. Kejia Wang and Zhenxing Wang were found guilty of wire fraud and money laundering, with Kejia serving as the U.S.-based manager of the operation. The scheme involved stealing the identities of over 80 U.S. individuals to secure positions in over 100 U.S. companies, resulting in significant financial losses for the affected businesses. The Justice Department has been cracking down on similar operations, uncovering 29 laptop farms across 16 states in mid-2025 and convicting five other individuals involved in such schemes.