Washington: Kwek Kee Seng, a Singaporean national and director of the Singapore-based shipping agency and terminal operations company known as Swanseas Port Services (S) Pte Ltd, covertly transported fuel to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), also known as North Korea that supported weapons of mass destruction proliferation.
He engaged in an extensive scheme to evade the United States and United Nations sanctions in violation of American law and his activities also included money laundering, the exportation of luxury goods to the DPRK, and specified cyber-activity.
Stating that the US Department of State was seeking information on Kwek, the Department’s Rewards for Justice (RFJ) programme, which is administered by the Diplomatic Security Service, today offered a reward of up to $5 million for information that leads to the disruption of financial mechanisms of persons engaged in certain activities that support North Korea.
The US Department of State claimed that Kwek directed the delivery of petroleum products directly to the DPRK as well as ship-to-ship transfers of fuel destined for the DPRK using one of his oil tankers, the M/T Courageous.
Kwek and his co-conspirators sought to obscure their identities and activities by conducting financial transactions through a series of shell companies, the US claimed. It added that he directed payments in US dollars that were routed from his shell companies based in Panama, Singapore, and elsewhere, and through US banks to pay for oil, the M/T Courageous, services and materials for the vessel, and salaries for crewmembers. These transactions violated the prohibition of the export of financial services for the benefit of the DPRK.
On April 23, 2021, a US federal arrest warrant was issued for Kwek in the United States District Court, Southern District of New York, after he was charged with Conspiracy to Violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and Conspiracy to Commit International Money Laundering. He though remains at large.
On October 7, 2022, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated Kwek and Swanseas Port Services Pte. Ltd. for activities related to the exportation of petroleum to the DPRK, which directly supports the development of DPRK weapons programs and its military.
The Rewards for Justice Program is a law enforcement tool and is administered by the US Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service. Since its inception in 1984, the program has paid more than $250 million to over 125 people across the globe who provided information that helped prevent terrorism, bring terrorist leaders to justice, and resolve threats to US national security. Of that amount, RFJ paid rewards of $5 million each to two individuals whose information helped disrupt an illicit financial scheme that benefitted the DPRK in violation of international and US sanctions.
– global bihari bureau
