HITTING NORTH KOREA WHERE IT HURTS
by Richardson ~ September 8th, 2005. Filed under: Economics, North Korea.From the Asian Wall Street Journal, via the Chosun Ilbo:
The U.S. is investigating several banks including the Bank of China in a drive to stop North Korea’s cash flow… U.S. judicial authorities were investigating the Bank of China — China’s largest Bank — and Banco Delta Asia SARL and Seng Heng Bank, both based in Macau. The banks are suspected of laundering money from North Korea’s counterfeiting and drug and weapons deals… The probe concludes a three-year investigation by U.S. judicial authorities with other Asian nations of North Korea’s distribution network for counterfeit bills and illicit arms deals. It comes ahead of the restart of six-party talks on North Korea’s nuclear programs next week and the Bank of China’s listing on the New York Stock Exchange next year… the U.S. seized US$5 million in counterfeit US$100 bills, known as the “super note”, at home and in Taiwan in a massive joint operation between the secret service, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and others. U.S. authorities believe most of the bills were made in North Korea.
