US Charges North Korean Bank, Officials, Chinese Citizens With Sanctions Evasion

A North Korean bank and 28 North Korean and Chinese citizens were charged with evading U.S. sanctions, according to an indictment unsealed May 28. The scheme -- which included branches of North Korea’s state-owned Foreign Trade Bank in Thailand, Libya, Austria, Russia, Kuwait and China -- involved a series of front companies used to access the U.S. financial system. The scheme allowed the banks to process at least $2.5 billion in illegal payments through more than 250 front companies, which provided funding for North Korea’s nuclear missile programs.

The defendants, which included two former FTB presidents, two former co-vice presidents and a range of bank employees and North Korean citizens, exported financial services from the U.S. to the FTB, which was sanctioned by the Treasury Department in 2013. The scheme also involved a number of U.S.-sanctioned companies, such as China-based Panda International Information, which was added to the Commerce Department’s Entity List in 2013, the indictment said. The United Nations has said North Korea continues to violate international sanctions with China's help (see 2002110016).