By Boluwatife Oshadiya | May 8, 2026
Key Points
- US courts sentence Matthew Isaac Knoot and Erick Ntekereze Prince to 18 months each for facilitating DPRK IT worker scams.
- Schemes generated over $1.2 million for North Korea, impacting nearly 70 US companies.
- Part of broader US effort to disrupt sanctions evasion through “laptop farms.”
Main Story
Two US nationals have been sentenced to prison for running “laptop farms” that enabled North Korean remote IT workers to fraudulently secure employment at American companies, generating revenue for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).
Matthew Isaac Knoot of Nashville, Tennessee, and Erick Ntekereze Prince of New York each received 18-month sentences. The schemes involved hosting company-shipped laptops and installing remote access software so overseas (North Korean) workers could appear to work from US addresses. Combined, the cases affected nearly 70 victim companies.
Knoot operated from July 2022 to August 2023 and was ordered to pay $15,100 in restitution plus forfeiture. Prince enabled workers from June 2020 to August 2024 and must forfeit $89,000. These represent the 7th and 8th such sentences in recent months under the US DPRK RevGen initiative.
What’s Being Said
“These sentences hold accountable U.S nationals who enabled North Korea’s illicit efforts to infiltrate U.S. networks and profit on the back of U.S. companies,” — Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg.
What’s Next
US authorities continue targeting enablers through the DPRK RevGen: Domestic Enabler Initiative, with ongoing investigations, public advisories, and international cooperation. Companies are advised to strengthen remote worker verification processes.
The Bottom Line
These cases underscore the evolving national security risks in remote hiring and outsourcing. For global businesses, including those in Nigeria and Africa, they highlight the critical importance of robust identity verification, device management, and compliance controls to prevent unwitting involvement in sanctions evasion schemes.
