The US Department of Justice announced that the cargo ship violated the sanctions regime.
The US Department of Justice announced the arrest of a tanker used to transport petroleum products to North Korea. According to the agency, the cargo ship with a displacement of 2,734 tons belonged to a citizen of Singapore. The authorities of Cambodia arrested it in accordance with an international warrant issued by the United States.
The Ministry of Justice stressed that they intend to bring criminal charges of evading sanctions and money laundering to the alleged owner of the Courageous tanker, Kwek Ki Seng. At the moment, he is at large.
The Federal Court of New York issued a decision on the confiscation of the vessel on Friday.
Recall that North Korea is subject to sanctions by the United Nations and some other international organizations because of the development of programs to create nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. The sanctions restrict the import of oil and some other goods into the country.
The statement of the Ministry of Justice emphasizes that Courageous, in violation of the law, stopped transmitting information about its location to the controlling agencies. At the same time, satellite images showed that during this time, he delivered oil worth one and a half million dollars to the North Korean vessel Saebyol.
The ministry stressed that payments for the Courageous tanker and oil purchase were made using US dollars in violation of US legislation and UN resolutions and using shell companies.
