More than two dozen North Korean nationals and five Chinese citizens have been charged in a $2.5 billion money-laundering scheme that helped fund Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program, reports The New York Times.
The Justice Department on Thursday unsealed a 50-page indictment accusing 28 North Koreans of using shell companies to transfer billions through the global financial system to Pyongyang’s foreign exchange bank in a practice dating back to 2013.
Two former presidents of the Foreign Trade Bank were charged in the indictment – Ko Chol Man and Kim Song Ui.
"Through this indictment, the United States has signaled its commitment to hampering North Korea's ability to illegally access the U.S. financial system and limit its ability to use proceeds from illicit actions to enhance its illegal W.M.D. and ballistic missile programs," Michael Sherwin, the acting U.S. attorney in Washington, said in a statement.
Prosecutors say the officials used a web of more than 250 shell companies and covert FTB branches across the globe to funnel money into North Korea’s state-owned Foreign Trade Bank, also known as Josep Bank.
"[T]he defendants and other co-conspirators took up residence in foreign countries to operate these covert branches, from which they opened and operated front companies and worked with established third-party financial facilitators to procure commodities and facilitate payments in U.S. dollars on behalf of parties in North Korea," the indictment stated.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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