The US-led Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team published a report on Wednesday expanding on the United Nations' 140-page October study of North Korea's illicit IT-worker scheme, which places teams of DPRK nationals in China and roughly 40 other countries earning hard currency in high-paying IT roles obtained with stolen or purchased identities. As of July, Vietnam, Laos, Pakistan and Argentina had taken meaningful responsive steps: Argentina opened an investigation into Antonia Doroganova over the alleged laundering of IT workers' earnings through a network of payment accounts and froze assets tied to her activity, while Pakistan opened a case against Syeda Aliya Batool Zaidi, accused of forging the identity documents that let DPRK nationals pass employment screening. The advisory and sanctions work runs in parallel with the WaterPlum enforcement action, and both describe the same population: operatives who use either stolen documents or their own technical skill to reach Western employers.

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