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WASHINGTON, Nov. 3 (AP) The Biden administration has offered a reward of up to $5 million for information on a Singaporean businessman who has been accused by the Justice Department of facilitating fuel shipments to North Korea in violation of U.N. sanctions.
Guo Jicheng, who heads a shipping agency and terminal operating company, was charged last year with arranging deliveries, and prosecutors accused him of using front companies and false documents to hide the scheme. Businesses help fulfill North Korea’s nuclear proliferation program, officials said.
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Prosecutors say the U.S. government has seized a 2,734-ton M/T Courageous that was transporting fuel. Prosecutors said satellite imagery showed the ship diverted more than $1.5 million worth of oil to a North Korean-flagged vessel.
Despite an arrest warrant, Kwek remains at large.
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The U.S. State Department said Thursday that it will provide up to $5 million through its Rewards for Justice program. Kwek is also one of a group of people and companies sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department last month.
The announcement of the awards comes amid heightened tensions with North Korea, which fired at least six missiles into the sea on Thursday, including an intercontinental ballistic missile that triggered an evacuation warning and halted trains in northern Japan.
Responding to the launch, the Biden administration said it was willing to take “all necessary steps” to ensure the safety of the continental United States as well as South Korea and Japan, warning of unspecified “additional costs and consequences” if North Korea detonated since September 2017. For the first time since the use of a nuclear test device. (Associated Press)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from the Syndicated News feed, the body of the content may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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