FBI raids 40+ laptop farms helping North Korea pocket US tech salaries
FBI arrested two Americans and raided 40-plus laptop farms aiding North Korean IT-worker salary fraud.
The US Justice Department says North Korean IT workers used stolen and fake identities to get remote jobs at more than 70 US companies, aided by Americans who hosted company laptops. Michael James Bostelle and Juan Cecilio Pena Carrillo were arrested; an Ohio indictment also names ten China-based defendants. From 2019 to about July 2025 they allegedly installed remote-access software and forwarded about $3 million toward North Korea. Between September 21 and 25, the FBI searched more than 40 Texas laptop farms and seized about 187 laptops and KVM devices. The FBI says some workers stole sensitive data, attempted extortion, and that Pyongyang takes an estimated 85–90% of the revenue.