WASHINGTON: The United States Treasury Department imposed sanctions on two Singapore-based entities and a man accused of money laundering through the US financial system to evade sanctions against North Korea, the department said in a statement on Thursday (Oct 25).
The US said the person targeted by sanctions, Tan Wee Beng, a director and shareholder of a Singapore-based commodities trading company, Wee Tiong Holdings, hid the origins of payments and structured transactions to fulfil millions of dollars in North Korean contracts since at least 2011.
The Treasury Department also imposed sanctions on two vessels tied to a company for which Tan is a managing director, and which the United States says engaged in illicit economic activity connected to North Korea.
The US Justice Department unsealed criminal charges against Tan, the Treasury Department said. Tan was charged with bank fraud, money laundering and defrauding the United States, according to an FBI notice. The arrest warrant was issued for Tan last August.
A representative for Wee Tiong Holdings did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A poster showing Singapore commodities broker Tan Wee Beng is wanted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. (Image: Federal Bureau of Investigation)
(Reporting by Makini Brice; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Jonathan Oatis)
