DOJ Alleges U.S. Citizens Helped North Korea Penetrate 136 Firms

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) says five persons have pleaded guilty to their involvement in remote information technology (IT) roles and virtual currency theft schemes. As per the announcement by the DOJ, these persons helped North Korean hackers to access American companies while pretending to be IT workers.

The U.S. DOJ has also instituted civil forfeiture lawsuits to retain $15.1 million in Tether (USDT) that was stolen by hackers based in North Korea in 2023.

APT38 Identified as Key Driver of Massive Virtual Currency Heists

Notably, a group in North Korea known as the Advanced Persistent Threat 38 (APT38) have been linked to the virtual currency theft schemes. This is a military group that targets overseas platforms with the aim of stealing funds.

The FBI in March 2025 seized the funds after years of investigation. Now, it is seeking judicial approval to forfeit the assets so it can be refunded to victims. A total of 136 U.S. companies were impacted by the fraudulent action from the North Korean hackers.

Besides the affected companies, the identities of 18 U.S. persons were also compromised while North Korea gained $2.2 million in revenue. According to the DOJ, the North Korean hackers gave the impression that they were working in the U.S.

Guilty Pleas Reveals Coordinated Effort to Mask North Korean Operations

The four U.S. citizens who helped the North Korean hackers were aged between 24 and 38 years. They include Audricus Phagnasay, Erick Ntekereze Prince, Jason Salazar, and Alexander Paul Travis. They all pleaded guilty to conspiring with the malicious actors to commit wire fraud by providing their personal details to the group.

The four also hosted company-issued laptops in their individual residences to create a false impression of being based in the U.S.

Another culprit and Ukrainian national, Oleksandr Didenko also pleaded guilty to identity theft. Didenko stole the identities of U.S. citizens and sold them to North Korean IT workers. He further assisted the hackers to get employment status with 40 U.S. companies.

As part of Didenko’s plea bargain, he would forfeit $1.4 million to the U.S. authorities.

North Korea and Malicious Attacks

North Korean hackers have been notorious in the crypto currency space with the Lazarus Group linked to many of the thefts in the industry.

The Lazarus Group strikes in different parts of the world and stole approximately $23 million in digital assets from Lykke, a UK crypto startup.

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