The U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday sanctioned 10 North Koreans and Russians it said power a North Korean IT worker fraud operation that uses stolen identities, fake résumés and impersonation to get jobs at legitimate companies¹.

CBS News reported that wages from those jobs, in the hundreds of millions of dollars, are used to fund North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs¹. The Record described the same designations as targeting people accused of laundering those workers’ earnings for Pyongyang².

According to CBS, North Korean operatives pose as IT professionals, take jobs at U.S. and allied companies, send most of their pay to the government, and can also reach sensitive data, deploy malware or extort employers once inside corporate networks¹.

CBS said investigators found key handlers and money movers in Russia¹. Among those designated was Russian national Vitold Viktorovich Obertas, who CBS said has processed nearly $2 million in cryptocurrency conversions and at least $1.25 million in other currency transactions for North Korean officials since January 2025¹.

Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control also sanctioned North Korean national Kim Ki Hyok, who CBS said leads an IT worker delegation in Russia, monitors personnel and financial targets, and has transferred nearly $500,000 in cryptocurrency since 2024¹.

CBS said OFAC also designated the Russia-based, North Korean-controlled First Financial and Technical Development Center, which it said has generated millions of dollars by placing trained IT workers and moving cryptocurrency, along with six of the center’s operatives¹.

U.S.-linked property of the designated people is blocked, and U.S. persons are generally barred from dealing with them, CBS reported¹.

Neither CBS News nor The Record carried an on-record response from the designated people, from Moscow or from Pyongyang^1,2.