The United States announced Thursday the indictment of 28 North Koreans and five Chinese accused of having set up a network of front companies having passed more than 2.5 billion dollars by evading the sanctions applied to Pyongyang. These some 250 companies in Thailand, Libya, Austria, Russia, China and Kuwait have exchanged goods for North Korea by enriching themselves in passing, according to the indictment released to the public on Thursday.
Most of those charged were linked to "secret" subsidiaries of the main North Korean currency exchange bank, the Foreign Trade Bank of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, which is on the black list of the United States Treasury and with which it is associated. therefore prohibited to trade. Two former bank presidents, Ko Chol Man and Kim Song Ui, are among the accused, as well as two former vice-presidents.
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They are accused of having, from 2013 to this year, used front companies to conclude transactions in dollars, which is prohibited to any North Korean entity under the strict sanctions that the United States imposes on Korea. North to convince the regime to give up its nuclear weapons program. They concealed the involvement of the North Korean Foreign Trade Bank in these dollar transactions "so that the banks concerned accept payments" , according to the indictment.
Of the 2.5 billion that transited through the international monetary system for 7 years, only 63 million were intercepted. "With this indictment, the United States signals its determination to prevent North Korea from having unlawful access to the American financial system , " said federal prosecutor Michael Sherwin in a statement. Washington is also seeking to "limit (Pyongyang's) ability to use the profits from its illegal acts to improve its illicit weapons of mass destruction and missile programs," he added.
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According to an American official, the money was intended for a whole range of goods, ranging from luxury goods to materials intended for the North Korean nuclear program. With 28 defendants, this charge appears to be the most significant against North Korean officials to date, but US justice has little hope of being able to try them.
