U. S. Accuses Chinese Company of Money Laundering for North Korea -<br />By JONATHAN SOBLEJUNE 16, 2017<br />TOKYO — United States prosecutors accused a Chinese company on Thursday of laundering money for North Korea<br />and said they would seek $1.9 million in civil penalties, as American efforts to put pressure on the isolated country continue to affect Pyongyang’s neighbor and biggest benefactor.<br />In their statement, prosecutors said Mingzheng was created to “surreptitiously move North Korean money through the United<br />States.” In a filing with the court, prosecutors said the funds were being held in a bank account in the United States.<br />Prosecutors said the company, Mingzheng International Trading Limited, operated as a front company for North Korea’s state-run Foreign Trade Bank,<br />which since 2013 has been the target of American sanctions intended to choke off funds connected to the country’s nuclear weapons program.<br />Last year, the United States Treasury said it would cut off from the American financial<br />system any bank or company conducting banking transactions with North Korea.<br />The penalty, if approved by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, would be “one of<br />the largest seizures of North Korean funds by the department,” according to a statement from prosecutors.
