The Justice Department announced criminal charges Monday in a scheme by North Korea to fund its weapons program through the salaries of remote information technology workers employed unwittingly by U.

The scheme netted more than $5 million for weapons of mass destruction programs run by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Leah B. Foley, US Attorney for Massachusetts, said in a statement Monday.

The United States says it has taken down a network that allegedly helped North Koreans obtain remote IT work with companies to raise millions of dollars in funds for the sanctioned country’s weapons programme.