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SINGAPORE (The Straits Times / ANN): A managing director and his Singapore-based wholesaling company illegally supplied products, primarily wines and spirits, worth more than S $ 745,000 to North Korea between 2013 and 2018.
Due to United Nations sanctions, it is illegal for anyone in Singapore to supply, sell, or transfer designated luxury goods to North Korean entities.
Lim Cheng Hwee of Singapore, 49, was sentenced on Friday (December 11) to two months in jail after pleading guilty to three counts of illegally supplying alcoholic beverages worth more than $ 530,000 to North Korea.
SINSMS, which also offers cargo transportation services, was fined $ 30,000 after being convicted of three similar charges.
Lim and the company each have six other charges tied to the remaining amount. They were considered during sentencing.
Lim’s wife in Singapore, Hong Leng Ooi, also 49, who helped him with the company’s administrative operations, was fined $ 4,000 on Friday.
He pleaded guilty to two counts of failing to report the illegal transactions to authorities.
Lim’s alleged accomplices are: Chinese citizen Liang Ye, 44, who was a director and shareholder of SINSMS, and North Korean Mun Chol Myong, 53 years old. They are still on the run.
Assistant Prosecutors V. Jesudevan, Koh Mun Keong, and Sarah Thaker testified in court documents that sometime before October 2016, Mun approached one Richard Goh, the director of a company called Mega-Tech Industries, for a purchase. of wines and spirits for export. from Singapore to Dalian in China d
The outcome of Goh’s case was not declared in court documents.
The DPPs added: “Mega-Tech would source the wines and spirits ordered by Mun. These wines and spirits would be stored in an authorized warehouse in Singapore.
“After Mega-Tech received full payment from Mun, Mega-Tech would deliver the wines and spirits to SINSMS, Mun’s designated freight forwarders.”
The court heard that Mun also informed Lim that the alcoholic beverages that SINSMS would send to Dalian were destined for North Korea. Then Lim ordered his company to organize his transport from Singapore to Dalian.
Liang then arranged for the goods to be shipped to Nampo in North Korea, the court heard.
SINSMS ‘earnings from shipments to North Korea ranged from about $ 200 (about S $ 260) to $ 500 per shipment, the DPPs said.
For her part, Hong followed her husband’s instructions and oversaw the administrative details for supplying the goods to North Korea.
He had not informed the authorities despite knowing they were heading into the country illegally.
For each count of illegally supplying luxury goods to North Korea, a criminal can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined up to $ 500,000. – The Straits Times / Asia News Network
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