Miami, FL
FBI Miami investigates remote freelance IT workers using laptop farms
MIAMI – The FBI Miami Field Office is investigating a case related to a network of remote freelance IT workers who are defying U.S. sanctions.
According to Bryan Vorndran, the assistant director of the FBI’s cyber division, North Korean agents are pretending to be based in the U.S. “to generate revenue.”
According to Devin DeBacker, a supervisory official of the Justice Department’s national security division, the revenue funds even “weapons programs.”
Federal prosecutors released statements by Vorndran and DeBacker with a 27-page indictment Thursday accusing five of participating in the scheme.
Two of the five are from North Korea, one is from Mexico, and two are from the United States. According to prosecutors, at least 64 U.S. companies, including a Miami-based cruise line and a staffing agency in Fort Lauderdale, fell for their scheme.
The two defendants from North Korea, Jin Sung-Il and Pak Jin-Song, allegedly used fake identifications and laundered the earnings through a Chinese bank account.
The two from the U.S., Erick Ntekereze and Emanuel Ashtor, allegedly received laptops from U.S. employers and installed remote access software on them.
The FBI raided Ashtor’s North Carolina home and accused him of operating a “laptop farm” that hosted victim company-provided laptops, according to the indictment.
Ashtor, formerly of New York, also co-owned Vali Tech, a staffing agency registered in Florida. Ntekereze, of New York, owned Taggcar, a staffing agency registered in Delaware.
Pedro Ernesto Alonso De Los Reyes, the Mexican defendant, allegedly allowed the North Koreans to use his identity. He was living in Sweden and was arrested on Jan. 10 in the Netherlands.
The two North Koreans, Alonso, Ntekereze, and Ashtor are facing charges of conspiracy to cause damage to a protected computer, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and conspiracy to transfer false identification documents.
The two North Koreans living in China are also facing charges of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
The U.S. Treasury warned about the fraudulent scheme in 2022 reporting that it involved forced labor and human trafficking.
To submit a tip about this or other similar schemes, visit this page and submit a form.
Two North Korean nationals, Jin Sung-Il and Pak Jin-Song, were indicted for illegally obtaining remote information technology work with U.S. companies. With co-conspirators, they generated over $860,000 in illegal revenue for the North Korean government: https://t.co/PEzFOf1wTR pic.twitter.com/Uqj5nsQRcN
— FBI (@FBI) January 23, 2025
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The Cleveland Browns traded for an extended right tackle, former Houston Texan Tytus Howard, at the start of free agency as they began their rebuild of the offensive line that was awful in 2025. But Howard has played every position on the offensive line except for center, so if it’s all about getting your best five on the field, which it should be, there’s a chance Howard doesn’t play at right tackle in 2026.
While doing a mock draft on Peter Schrager’s podcast, former Tennessee Titans general manager Ran Carthon had the Browns drafting Miami (FL) right tackle sixth overall. He talked about the issue with Howard, but said Mauigoa could either take over the tackle spot or be a really good guard.
Carthon said he knows that Mauigoa would be one of their best five, whether it is at guard or tackle. Some will say that a guy who may be best at guard isn’t worth the sixth overall pick, and I have to disagree. You should draft the best football players, and Francis Mauigoa is my highest-rated offensive lineman and seventh overall. It might be at guard, but I have a good feeling that Mauigoa will find a home in the NFL as a high-quality offensive lineman.
Inventory of homes and condos across the coastal Miami mainland and Miami Beach and the barrier island markets fell in the first quarter, marking the first big inventory drops since 2023.
The Corcoran Group’s first quarter reports don’t cover all of Miami-Dade County, but they offer insight into how the coastal markets, which have a higher share of luxury properties, are performing.
In Miami Beach, Sunny Isles Beach, Bal Harbour, Bay Harbor Islands, Surfside, Miami Beach, Fisher Island and Key Biscayne, single-family home inventory dropped 15 percent annually to 398 listings, and condo inventory was down 13 percent to 3,919 listings.
On Miami’s coastal mainland markets, which include Aventura, Miami Shores, Upper East Side, Edgewater, downtown Miami, Brickell, Coral Gables and Coconut Grove, inventory slipped 4 percent to 4,584 condo listings and 555 single-family listings, down 6 percent year-over-year.
Here’s a closer look at the market:
Miami Beach and the barrier islands
Single-family sales rose 13 percent year-over-year to 85 closings, the first time they have increased since the second quarter of 2024. Condo closings rose 15 percent to 693 closings, the first increase since the last quarter of 2024.
Pricing dropped, with the median price of single-family homes down 4 percent to $3.5 million and the median condo price down 9 percent to $640,000. The average price per square foot was nearly flat at $1,119.
Still, buyers set records with their purchases. Billionaire Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg paid $170 million for the waterfront mansion at 7 Indian Creek Island Road, and Starbucks billionaire Howard Schultz paid $44 million, or $7,949 per square foot, for a penthouse at the Four Seasons Residences at The Surf Club.
Coastal mainland
Sales of single-family homes on the coastal mainland rose 16 percent to 220 closings. While markets like Coral Gables experienced declines in condo and single-family home sales, Coconut Grove home sales surged — up over 100 percent for single-family homes to 47 closings and up 55 percent to 87 condo closings. Condo sales rose 13 percent to 759 closings.
The median price of single-family homes across the coastal mainland rose 11 percent to just over $2 million. The median price of condos increased slightly, up 1 percent, to $602,000.
The priciest deals in the first quarter were the $32 million trade of 12 Tahiti Beach Island Road in Coral Gables, and the $19.8 million sale of a penthouse at Vita at Grove Isle.
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