An Arizona woman has been charged with conspiring with individuals linked to the North Korean government to secure remote telework positions with various companies in the United States, according to federal prosecutors on Thursday.

Christina Chapman has been charged alongside three North Korean nationals for their involvement in the elaborate scheme.

The Arizona resident is accused of stealing the identities of American citizens and assisting foreign IT workers in using these identities to impersonate Americans and secure employment at US companies, according to prosecutors.

The operation, as outlined by prosecutors, was extensive and highly lucrative. Chapman and her accomplices are accused of exploiting the identities of over 60 U.S. residents to amass nearly $7 million, which allegedly funded the North Korean government.

This amount was obtained from over 300 unsuspecting U.S. companies.

Notably, some of the enterprises affected by this fraud are listed among the Fortune 500, including a major television network, a defence contractor, and an automobile manufacturer.

Ms Chapman, 49, is alleged to have operated a "laptop farm" from her home, where she would log into company-issued laptops, creating the appearance that North Korean workers from other countries were physically located in the US.

According to the 57-page charging document, she assisted the IT workers in remotely connecting to the laptops and facilitated their receipt of wages from the companies.

The indictment says "in exchange, Chapman charged monthly fees to the overseas IT workers for her services, enriching herself off the scheme".

She also is accused of unsuccessfully trying to procure employment at US government agencies.

According to a State Department memo, the trio of Jiho Han, Chunji Jin, Haoran Xu are believed to be associated with the North Korean Munitions Industry Department, which is involved in ballistic missile and weapons production. The memo, which offers a $5 million reward for information leading to the disruption of this operation, implicates them in collaborating with Chapman to funnel the ill-gotten gains back to North Korea.

"The charges in this case should be a wakeup call for American companies and government agencies that employ remote IT workers," said Nicole Argentieri, head of the Justice Department's Criminal Division.

"These crimes benefitted the North Korean government, giving it a revenue stream and, in some instances, proprietary information stolen by the co-conspirators."

Officials said Ms Chapman was contacted in March 2020 by an unknown individual who asked her to "be the US face" of their company.

North Korean operatives allegedly started compiling relevant resumes from August 2022 to November of the same year. They used an online background check system to identify and steal the identities of specific American citizens.

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