Singapore firms charged for exporting booze, soft drinks to North Korea
Two Singaporean companies have been charged with exporting whiskey, wine and soft drinks to North Korea in a latest case of firms in the city-state allegedly trading illegally with the isolated country, AFP reported.
The trade is violating international sanctions over North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile tests in place since 2006.
Singapore officially suspended all trade ties with North Korea in 2017, but there have been a number of cases of Singapore-incorporated firms – and also companies in Malaysia – found to have been sending goods, including arms, to Pyongyang.
In this latest case, Singapore-incorporated 123 Holdings, a wholesaler and distributor of wine and spirits, was charged on May 25 with supplying alcoholic drinks on five occasions to North Korea, transported via China, between November 2016 and July 2017, according to charge sheets.
Johnnie Walker for Pyongyang
The goods – including Chivas Regal and Johnnie Walker Black Label whiskeys, Smirnoff vodka and Australian, Chilean and French wines – were worth more than $524,000, the report said.
Wines and spirits are considered designated luxury items under the United Nations sanctions act. No person in Singapore or Singapore citizen and no company are permitted to export any such items to any person or entity in North Korea.
The second Singaporean company, 123 Duty Free, was slapped with five charges for allegedly supplying non-alcoholic drinks, including milk coffee and strawberry milk, to North Korea from April to August 2018.
Both companies face hefty fines if convicted. They have their cases heard again on June 27.
Two Singaporean companies have been charged with exporting whiskey, wine and soft drinks to North Korea in a latest case of firms in the city-state allegedly trading illegally with the isolated country, AFP reported. The trade is violating international sanctions over North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile tests in place since 2006. Singapore officially suspended all trade ties with North Korea in 2017, but there have been a number of cases of Singapore-incorporated firms – and also companies in Malaysia – found to have been sending goods, including arms, to Pyongyang. In this latest case, Singapore-incorporated 123 Holdings, a wholesaler...
Two Singaporean companies have been charged with exporting whiskey, wine and soft drinks to North Korea in a latest case of firms in the city-state allegedly trading illegally with the isolated country, AFP reported.
The trade is violating international sanctions over North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile tests in place since 2006.
Singapore officially suspended all trade ties with North Korea in 2017, but there have been a number of cases of Singapore-incorporated firms – and also companies in Malaysia – found to have been sending goods, including arms, to Pyongyang.
In this latest case, Singapore-incorporated 123 Holdings, a wholesaler and distributor of wine and spirits, was charged on May 25 with supplying alcoholic drinks on five occasions to North Korea, transported via China, between November 2016 and July 2017, according to charge sheets.
Johnnie Walker for Pyongyang
The goods – including Chivas Regal and Johnnie Walker Black Label whiskeys, Smirnoff vodka and Australian, Chilean and French wines – were worth more than $524,000, the report said.
Wines and spirits are considered designated luxury items under the United Nations sanctions act. No person in Singapore or Singapore citizen and no company are permitted to export any such items to any person or entity in North Korea.
The second Singaporean company, 123 Duty Free, was slapped with five charges for allegedly supplying non-alcoholic drinks, including milk coffee and strawberry milk, to North Korea from April to August 2018.
Both companies face hefty fines if convicted. They have their cases heard again on June 27.
