Singaporean businessman indicted for DPRK sanctioned and AML activities

A Singaporean businessman, Tan Wee Beng has been indicted by the US government for laundering money through the US financial system on behalf of North Korea. He, and two related companies, have also been designated by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (‘OFAC’).

According to OFAC, Tan is a director and significant shareholder of Wee Tiong (S) Pte Ltd, a Singapore-based commodities trading company and that ‘over several years, dating back to at least 2011, Tan Wee Beng and at least one other individual in his company fulfilled millions of dollars in commodities contracts for North Korea. To do so, Tan Wee Beng made a concerted effort to obfuscate payment origins and structure transactions to avoid regulatory scrutiny. Tan Wee Beng and his co-conspirators also knew of and took efforts to evade financial sanctions on North Korea. In at least one instance, when a wire payment was rejected, Tan Wee Beng and Wee Tiong (S) Pte Ltd orchestrated payment in bulk cash, hand-delivered to a North Korean.’

In a statement, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said that Tan and co-conspirators ‘made deliberate efforts to launder money through the U.S. financial system on behalf of North Korea. Governments, financial institutions, and other companies worldwide need to be on high alert to these types of schemes. The U.S. government will not overlook these deceptive practices. We are deeply committed to the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea, and Treasury will continue to enforce and implement sanctions until that time.’

For identifying information see:
https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/OFAC-Enforcement/Pages/20181025.aspx