Chinese nationals charged with North Korea sanctions evasion

On July 23, 2019, the US Department of Justice announced that it had charged four Chinese nationals and one Chinese company with violations of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), conspiracy to violate IEEPA, conspiracy to launder money instruments, and conspiracy to violate, evade and avoid complying with the Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferators Sanctions Regulations (WMDPSR).  According to the indictment, Dandong Hongxiang Industrial Development Co. Ltd, it’s owner Ma Xiaohong, and three of the company’s executives, Zhou Jianshu, Hong Jinhua and Luo Chuanxu, used more than 20 front companies in the British Virgin Islands, the Seychelles, Hong Kong, Anguilla, and the United Kingdom to obscure trading with sanctioned North Korean entities tied to the manufacture, export and proliferation of arms.  Business between the front companies and their Chinese bank accounts is alleged to have gone through correspondent banks in the US, including a bank processing center in New Jersey.

DOJ press release | Indictment