JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. — At least one person from East Tennessee is believed to have been involved in a covert scheme to allow IT workers outside the country to infiltrate U.S. companies by setting up laptop farms, which reportedly benefitted North Korea's nuclear weapons program in some cases, according to an unsealed federal investigation.
The scheme spanned across the globe, involving other locations in the U.S., North Korea and other countries. According to the search warrant issued by the U.S. District Court in East Tennessee, FBI agents searched a home in Jefferson City on King Street as well as a room in Burnett Hall on Carson-Newman University's campus between May 8 and May 10.
10News has reached out to Carson-Newman about the investigation and provided the following statement:
"Carson-Newman was previously made aware of a federal investigation. Because of the confidential nature of the grand jury process, however, the University was not and has not been permitted to disclose details of the investigation to those outside school administration. Carson-Newman has cooperated with law enforcement officials as the case has moved forward, and, as such, the University defers all other related inquiries to the FBI and the Justice Department."
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington, at least five people are charged -- including a woman from Arizona, a Ukrainian man, and three unnamed people from outside the country. Another unnamed person from Jefferson City is believed to be involved but was not named or said to be facing charges in the unsealed documents.
“Today’s announcement of charges and law enforcement actions show our broad approach to attacking funding sources for North Korea across the United States,” U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves said. “We will continue to vigorously pursue cases against individuals, in the United States and abroad, who use U.S. financial systems to raise revenue for North Korea and its illicit nuclear weapons program.”
You can read more about the investigation here.