Tax evasion in Moscow reveals early North Korean labor supply scheme: records | NK News
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September 30, 2026Sep 30, 2026

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Tax evasion in Moscow reveals early North Korean labor supply scheme: records

Koryo Group, co-founded by a DPRK man, employed dozens of North Koreans while claiming it outsourced work to local firms

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing NK News series exploring Russia-DPRK relations based on court documents.

A tax fraud investigation into a Moscow construction firm with ties to North Korea laid bare a DPRK labor procurement scheme that revealed early attempts to disguise North Korean workers as students in Russia.

Yulia Gavasheli, CEO of Koryo Group, used North Korean laborers to carry out construction at worksites in and around Moscow, while denoting in documents that the work was subcontracted to local shell companies SK Galeon and Benofon, the capital city’s Simonovskiy District Court found in a May