Chinese National Extradited to US to Face North Korea Sanctions Violations Charges

Australia extradited Chinese national Jin Guanghua to the U.S. last week to face charges that he, along with co-conspirators, took part in a scheme to sell tobacco in North Korea in violation of U.S. sanctions, DOJ announced. Jin made his initial appearance in a District of Columbia district court Sept. 30.

From 2009 to 2019, Jin, along with North Korean banker Sim Hyon-Sop and Chinese nationals Qin Guoming and Han Linlin, allegedly bought leaf tobacco for North Korean-owned entities and then used "front companies and false documentation to cause U.S. financial institutions to process at least 310 transactions worth approximately $74 million," DOJ said. The institutions would have otherwise frozen, blocked or investigated the transactions had they known they involved North Korea, DOJ said.

The scheme resulted in over $700 million in revenue for North Korean companies, "and ultimately, for the government of North Korea," DOJ alleged. The indictment charged all the co-conspirators with conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the North Korean sanctions regime, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and conspiracy to launder monetary instruments and laundering monetary instruments.

They face a maximum 30-year prison sentence for bank fraud, 20 years for violating IEEPA and 20 years for committing money laundering.