[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] The U.S. Department of Justice has indicted more than 30 North Koreans and Chinese nationals on charges of involvement in money laundering amounting to $2.5 billion (3.1 trillion KRW).
This is the largest North Korean sanctions violation case prosecuted by the U.S. and comes amid a deadlock in North Korea-U.S. talks and peak tensions in U.S.-China relations, drawing significant attention. On the same day, a U.S. donation platform denied the opening of a fundraising account to aid North Korean residents.
According to U.S. media including The New York Times (NYT) on the 28th (local time), the Department of Justice indicted 28 North Korean nationals and 5 Chinese nationals for involvement in money laundering worth $2.5 billion through about 250 shell companies and secret branches of the Foreign Trade Bank of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (FTB), North Korea's representative foreign exchange bank. The laundered funds were funneled into the Foreign Trade Bank and were believed to have been used to support weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programs. According to Voice of America (VOA), the charges include violations of the U.S. 'International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA)', 'North Korea Sanctions Act', 'Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation Sanctions Act', 'International Money Laundering', and 'Banking Laws'.
Among those indicted are former presidents of the Foreign Trade Bank, Ko Cheol-man and Kim Seong-ui, as well as two former vice presidents. The Washington Post (WP) explained that Han Ki-sung, who reportedly operated a secret branch of the Foreign Trade Bank in Thailand, is affiliated with North Korean intelligence, emphasizing that this money laundering indictment is the largest among North Korean sanctions violation cases.
The indictment lists cases where they established shell companies and secret branches of the Foreign Trade Bank in locations such as Beijing and Shenyang in China, Moscow in Russia, Austria, Libya, Kuwait, and Thailand, attempting money laundering using the U.S. financial system.
While the U.S. Treasury Department has independently imposed sanctions on North Korea, it is unusual for the Department of Justice to indict a large number of North Korean nationals.
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated the Foreign Trade Bank as a sanctions target in 2013 and imposed large-scale independent sanctions on bank officials and front companies in 2017 and 2018. Most of the defendants indicted this time were also on the U.S. sanctions list at that time. However, since most of the defendants remain in third countries such as North Korea and China, the possibility of their extradition to the U.S. for trial is virtually nonexistent.
This indictment is interpreted as a warning message to North Korea and China, which continue sanctions evasion activities amid prolonged deadlock in negotiations with the U.S. Notably, the inclusion of five Chinese nationals on the indictment list stands out, given that U.S.-China tensions have peaked following the enforcement of the Hong Kong National Security Law.
Meanwhile, according to the Korean American organization the Forum for Democratic Participation in America (Forum), headquartered in Los Angeles (LA), the U.S. donation platform GoFundMe has denied the opening of a COVID-19 fundraising account to aid North Korean residents. GoFundMe stated that it deleted the fundraising account established by the Forum based on North Korea sanctions policies and that it cannot allow fundraising activities under the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) policies and its own regulations.
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