UPDATE 2 - US Indicts 4 Chinese Nationals For Allegedly Evading N. Korea Sanctions - Justice Dept.

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th July, 2019) The United States has indicted four Chinese citizens and a Chinese firm for conspiracy to evade Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) restrictions on behalf of North Korean entities, the US Justice Department announced.

"A Federal grand jury has charged four Chinese nationals and a Chinese company with violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), conspiracy to violate IEEPA and defraud the United States; conspiracy to violate, evade and avoid restrictions imposed under the Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferators Sanctions Regulations (WMDPSR); and conspiracy to launder monetary instruments," the department said in a press release on Tuesday.

The defendants allegedly sought to obscure illicit financial dealings on behalf of sanctioned North Korean entities involved in the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction through 20 front companies, US Assistant Attorney General John Demers said in the release.

A federal grand jury in Newark, New Jersey charged Ma Xiaohong and her company, Dandong Hongxiang Industrial Development Co. Ltd. (DHID), along with top executives, for the aforesaid violations in addition to conspiracy to launder monetary instruments, the release added.

According to the indictment, DHID allegedly openly worked with North Korea-based Korea Kwangson Banking Corporation (KKBC) prior to August 11, 2009 when the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated the firm for providing US Dollar financial services to two entities tied to Korea Mining Development Trading Company.

The mining company is allegedly North Korea's premier arms dealer and main exporter of goods and equipment related to ballistic missiles and conventional weapons, the release said.

The defendants, if found guilty on all counts, could each face a maximum penalty of 45 years in prison and $1.75 million in fines.