New Jersey Man Pleads Guilty to Participating in Scheme to Generate Revenue for North Korean Weapons Programs

BOSTON – A New Jersey man pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Boston to his involvement in a scheme to generate revenue for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programs. The scheme involved the dispatchment of skilled information technology (IT) workers who, using stolen identities of U.S. persons, posed as domestic workers to obtain remote IT jobs with U.S. companies, including several Fortune 500 companies and a defense contractor.

Zhenxing “Danny” Wang, 39, of New Jersey, pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. U.S. Senior District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton scheduled sentencing for April 14, 2026. In June 2025, Zhenxing Wang was indicted by a federal grand jury along with nine co-conspirators, including eight overseas operatives.

In response to U.S. and U.N. sanctions, the DPRK government dispatched thousands of skilled IT workers around the world, who falsified and stole identities of U.S. persons and posed as domestic workers to obtain remote IT jobs with U.S. companies and generate revenue for DPRK WMD programs. The DPRK IT workers’ scheme involved the use of pseudonymous email, social media, payment platform and online job site accounts, as well as false websites, proxy computers, and third-party enablers in the United States and abroad. According to the court documents, the IT workers employed under this scheme also gained access to sensitive employer data and source code, including International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) data from a California-based defense contractor that develops artificial intelligence-powered equipment and technologies.

According to the indictment, from approximately 2021 through October 2024, Zhenxing Wang and his alleged co-conspirators perpetuated a massive fraud scheme resulting in the transmission of false and misleading information to dozens of U.S. companies, financial institutions, and government agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, the Internal Revenue Service and the Social Security Administration. Specifically,  Zhenxing Wang and his alleged  co-conspirators compromised the identities of more than 80 U.S. persons; fraudulently obtained remote jobs at more than 100 U.S. companies, including several Fortune 500 companies; received laptops and other hardware from U.S. companies; accessed, without authorization, the internal systems of these U.S. companies, including sensitive employer data and source code; generated at least $5 million in revenue for the overseas IT workers; and caused U.S. victim companies to incur legal fees, computer network remediation costs and other damages and losses of at least $3 million.  

The overseas IT workers were assisted in this scheme by Zhenxing Wang, Kejia Wang and at least four other identified U.S. facilitators. Kejia Wang pleaded guilty to his role in the scheme in September 2025.

Zhenxing Wang and other U.S. facilitators received and/or hosted laptops belonging to U.S. victim companies at their residences to deceive the U.S. companies into believing the IT workers were in the United States. Zhenxing Wang and his alleged co-conspirators facilitated remote access to the computers for the overseas IT workers through illicit means, including downloading software to the computers without authorization from the U.S. companies, connecting the U.S. companies’ computers to internet-connected KVM switches, and creating shell companies with corresponding websites and financial accounts, including Hopana Tech LLC, Tony WKJ LLC and Independent Lab LLC, to make it appear as though the overseas IT workers were affiliated with legitimate U.S. businesses. These facilitators also allegedly established accounts at U.S. financial institutions and online money transfer services to receive money from victimized U.S. companies, much of which was subsequently transferred to overseas co-conspirators. In exchange for their services, Zhenxing Wang and Kejia Wang collected at least $700,000 in fees.  

This investigation is the culmination of a multi-year investigation by federal law enforcement agencies and is one of several charged as part of the Justice Department’s initiative, DPRK: Domestic Enabler. Under the initiative, Department prosecutors and agents continue to prioritize high-impact, strategic, and unified enforcement and disruption operations targeting DPRK’s illicit revenue generation efforts through remote IT workers and the U.S.-based individuals who enable them.

The U.S. Department of State has offered potential rewards for up to $5 million in support of international efforts to disrupt North Korea’s illicit financial activities, including for certain information related to individuals who are sent outside of North Korea to work to generate money for the North Korean government or who facilitate the activities of such North Korean nationals.

The charges of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering each provide for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

United States Attorney Leah B. Foley; Chistopher S. Delzotto, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Las Vegas Division; John E. Helsing, Special Agent in Charge for the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, Western Field Office; and Kevin Murphy, Acting Special Agent in Charge for Homeland Security Investigations in San Diego made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Casey, Deputy Chief of the National Security Unit is prosecuting the case along with Trial Attorney Gregory J. Nicosia, Jr. of the National Security Division’s National Security Cyber Section. Valuable assistance was provided by FBI New York, Newark and San Diego Field Offices; HSI Newark Field Office; United States Postal Inspection Service’s San Diego Field Office; and the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the District of New Jersey, the Eastern District of New York and the Southern District of California.

\The details contained in the charging document are allegations. The remaining defendants are presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in the court of law.