Singaporean charged over N. Korea wine shipments

A Singapore businessman has been charged with supplying luxury goods including wine and spirits to North Korea in defiance of UN sanctions.

Ng Kheng Wah was charged last week with 80 counts of shipping goods such as watches, perfumes, wines and musical instruments to North Korea between 2010 and 2017 by Singapore’s Attorney General’s office, said news sources.

Ng was said to have conspired with a company called T Specialist International to supply products to a shop in North Korea.

This came just four months after a leaked UN report alleged two Singapore companies, one of them being T Specialist International, have been shipping luxury goods to the secretive state.

In addition to violating UN sanctions, Ng is also charged with conspiracy to cheat several banks using false invoices the report went on.

Under UN sanctions, companies have been banned from doing business with North Korea since 2006. Singapore’s laws forbidding trade between the two countries have been in place for years but it was not until last year that it banned trade completely.

Earlier this year, two Chinese nationals were accused of violating Japanese sanctions for selling banned goods to North Korea including whisky, brandy and other alcoholic beverages.