Two U.S. nationals were sentenced to 18 months in prison for operating “laptop farms” that helped North Korean IT workers gain employment at nearly 70 American companies, generating more than $1.2 million for Pyongyang’s government.
Although Matthew Issac Knoot of Nashville, Tennessee, and Erick Ntekereze Prince of New York were sentenced in separate cases, both were convicted for the same type of crime involving North Korean remote IT worker schemes.
According to prosecutors, both men received company-issued laptops at their homes after American firms hired remote IT workers they believed were based in the United States. The defendants then installed remote desktop software that allowed overseas workers to connect to the devices while appearing to operate from U.S. locations.
“These were not paperwork violations. They were deliberate acts that exposed U.S. businesses, compromised trust, and supported one of the world’s most dangerous adversaries,” said U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida.
Prince, who pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy in November, helped at least three North Korean IT workers secure remote jobs at U.S. companies between June 2020 and August 2024 through his company, Taggcar Inc. Victim companies paid more than $943,000 in salaries to workers tied to the scheme, with most of the money transferred overseas.
Knoot operated a laptop farm from his Nashville residences between July 2022 and August 2023, where prosecutors said he installed remote desktop software on company-issued laptops that allowed North Korean IT workers in China to appear as U.S.-based employees.
The scheme generated more than $250,000 from at least four American companies and caused more than $500,000 in auditing and remediation costs.
In addition to their prison sentences, Knoot was ordered to pay $15,100 in restitution and forfeit another $15,100, while Prince was ordered to forfeit $89,000.
The sentencings mark the seventh and eighth convictions of U.S.-based “laptop farmers” secured in the past five months as part of a broader crackdown on North Korean illicit revenue operations.
Last month, federal prosecutors secured prison sentences against two U.S. men accused of helping North Korean IT workers obtain remote jobs at more than 100 American companies, generating roughly $5 million for Pyongyang.
“These cases should leave no doubt that Americans who choose to facilitate these schemes will be identified and held accountable. Hosting laptops for DPRK IT workers is a federal crime which directly impacts our national security, and these sentences should serve as a warning to anyone considering it,” noted Assistant Director Brett Leatherman of the FBI’s Cyber Division.
