A federal court in St Louis charged 14 North Koreans for allegedly being part of a long-running conspiracy.
The group is facing wire fraud, money laundering, identity theft and other charges.
The wider scheme was aimed at extorting funds from US companies and funneling money to Pyongyang’s weapons programmes.
It allegedly involves thousands of North Korean IT workers. They used false or stolen IDs to get hired and work remotely for US firms.
The prosecutors say the suspects worked for two North Korean-controlled companies: China-based Yanbian Silverstar and Russia-based Volasys Silverstar.
According to the US Department of Justice, they were among a group of 130 North Korean IT workers employed by the two firms. Internally, they were referred to as “IT Warriors.”
In six years, the defendants and others working with them generated at least $88m for the North Korean regime.
The suspects were allegedly ordered to seek salaries of $10,000 a month from their US employers.
Additionally, they would raise funds for the North Korean regime by stealing company information and demanding an extortion payment.
Investigators believe the suspects are in North Korea making it unlikely that they will ever face justice.
However, the US State Department announced a $5 million reward for anyone who can provide more information on the suspects, as well as Yanbian and Volasys.
US officials have not named the American companies targeted in the scheme.
