North Korean appears in U.S. court on sanctions-evasion money-laundering charges
David Brunnstrom and Mark Hosenball, 22 March 2021
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A North Korean businessman accused by the United States of laundering money to circumvent U.S. and U.N. sanctions intended to curb his country’s nuclear weapons program appeared in a U.S. court on Monday after extradition from Malaysia.
The U.S. Justice Department said Mun Chol Myong, who it said was affiliated with North Korea’s primary intelligence organization, the Reconnaissance General Bureau, was the first North Korean ever extradited to the United States.
It said Mun appeared in federal court in Washington, where he was indicted in May 2019 on six counts of money laundering, including conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Mun was arrested in Malaysia in 2019 after the United States accused him of laundering funds through front companies and issuing fraudulent documents to support illicit shipments to North Korea. He denied the allegations, saying they were politically motivated.
