Scheme involved foreign IT workers in China, posing as U.S. citizens, obtaining remote IT positions at more than a dozen U.S. companies
Baltimore, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Deborah L. Boardman sentenced Minh Phuong Ngoc Vong, 41, of Bowie, Maryland, today, to 15 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release — including six months of home confinement — for his role in a wire fraud scheme. Through the fraudulent scheme, Vong assisted foreign information technology (IT) workers in China, posing as U.S. citizens, with obtaining remote IT positions at more than a dozen U.S. companies.
Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, announced the sentence with Special Agent in Charge Jimmy Paul, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) – Baltimore Field Office.
Vong conspired with others, including John Doe, aka William James, a foreign national living in Shenyang, China, to defraud U.S. companies into hiring Vong as a remote software developer. After securing these jobs through materially false statements about his education, training, and experience, Vong allowed Doe and others to use his computer access credentials to perform the remote software development work and receive payment for that work. According to court documents, Vong knew that Doe was located in China next to North Korea. Additionally, Doe’s communications indicate that he is likely a North Korean national who was working to generate revenue for the North Korean government.
“This prosecution shows that we, along with our law-enforcement partners, are serious about holding accountable individuals who endanger our nation,” Hayes said. “By conspiring with a foreign national to infiltrate U.S. companies, Mr. Vong put American businesses, their employees, and our broader economic and national security at risk. Our office will zealously pursue anyone who undermines the integrity of U.S. systems for personal gain.”
“Vong is yet another subject being held accountable for using false identities on behalf of North Korea to infiltrate American companies,” Paul said. “His crimes threaten our economic and national security. I’m proud of the work FBI Baltimore has done to ensure that anyone who seeks to steal from or endanger the United States is brought to justice.”
According to the plea agreement, on Jan. 30, 2023, Doe submitted a fraudulent resume in Vong’s name to a Virginia-based technology company for a web application developer position that required U.S. citizenship as a condition of employment. The resume falsely represented that Vong possessed a Bachelor of Science degree and 16 years of experience as a software developer. In fact, Vong did not have a college degree nor experience in software development.
On March 28, 2023, Vong participated in an online job interview with the CEO of a Virginia-based company. Vong verified his identity and citizenship by showing his Maryland driver’s license and U.S. Passport. Following the interview, the Virginia-based company hired Vong and assigned him to work on a contract for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) involving a particular software application used by various U.S. government agencies to manage sensitive information regarding national defense matters. The Virginia-based company provided Vong with a laptop to use in connection with his employment, and the FAA authorized Vong to receive a Personal Identity Verification card to access government facilities and systems. Vong installed remote access software on the laptop to facilitate Doe’s access to it and conceal his location in China.
Between March 2023 and July 2023, Doe used Vong’s credentials to perform the software development work from his location in China. The Virginia-based company paid Vong more than $28,000 in wages for work he performed, portions of which Vong then sent overseas to Doe and other conspirators.
As part of his guilty plea, Vong admitted that the Virginia-based company was not the only company he and his co-conspirators defrauded. Between 2021 and 2024, Vong used fraudulent misrepresentations to obtain employment with at least 13 different U.S. companies, who collectively paid Vong more than $970,000 in salary for software development services that were, unbeknownst to them, performed by Doe or other overseas conspirators. Several of these defrauded companies contracted out Vong’s services to U.S. government agencies in addition to the FAA. As a result of Vong’s fraudulent misrepresentations, these government agencies unknowingly granted Vong’s co-conspirators access to sensitive U.S. government systems, which they accessed from China.
U.S. Attorney Hayes commended the FBI for its work in the investigation. Additionally, Ms. Hayes thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Christina A. Hoffman, who is prosecuting the case with valuable assistance from the National Security Division’s National Security Cyber Section. The U.S. Attorney and FBI Baltimore also thank the supporting federal and local law-enforcement partners that assisted with this case.
Under the Department-wide DPRK RevGen: Domestic Enabler Initiative, launched in March 2024 by the National Security Division and the FBI’s Cyber and Counterintelligence Divisions, Department prosecutors and agents are prioritizing the identification and shuttering of U.S.-based “laptop farms” – locations hosting laptops provided by victim U.S. companies to individuals they believed were legitimate U.S.-based freelance IT workers – and the investigation and prosecution of individuals hosting them. The Department previously announced other actions pursuant to the initiative, including in Januaryand June 2025.
For more information about the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, visit justice.gov/usao-md and justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.
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