The U.S. Department of Justice announced the arrest of an American in his 30s for aiding North Korean IT workers in disguising their identities as Americans to secure employment at U.S. and U.K. companies.

According to the Justice Department, Matthew Isaac Knoot from Tennessee is accused of helping North Koreans obtain jobs illegally, while also conspiring to launder their earnings into financial accounts linked to individuals in North Korea and China.

The department said Knoot ran a "laptop farm" from his home in Nashville, allowing the North Korean workers to access the U.S. internet, making it appear as if they were logging in from within the U.S., rather than from China, where they were based. 

The Justice Department added that they earned more than 250-thousand U.S. dollars between July 2022 and August 2023, with much of the income reported to tax authorities under false identities.

CNN reported that thousands of North Korean IT workers overseas are sending hundreds of millions of dollars to Pyongyang annually, helping the regime to evade sanctions and fund its weapons development programs.