SINGAPORE: The trial of a Singapore-registered shipping company
implicated in a shipment of arms bound for North Korea began on
Monday (Aug 3) in the State Courts.
Chinpo Shipping Company
allegedly transferred US$72,000 (S$99,000) to Panama shipping agent
C B Fenton and Co on Jul 8, 2013, for a vessel carrying weapons to
travel from Cuba to North Korea.
In court on Monday, the
prosecution alleged that Chinpo agreed to make the payment on
behalf of North Korean entity Ocean Maritime Management for the
vessel Chong Chon Gang to travel through Panama Canal.
This breaches United Nations
sanctions, which restrict arms trading with North Korea due to its
nuclear programme. If found guilty, Chinpo could be fined up to S$1
million.
The weapons involved included
two MiG-21 jet fighters, anti-tank rockets, and surface-to-air
missile systems and their components, which North Korea "is known
to use… specifically at nuclear missile sites”, said Deputy Public
Prosecutor Sandy Baggett.
Dr Graham Ong-Webb, the
prosecution's first expert witness, told the court that the weapons
hidden on board Chong Chon Gang were “not nuclear components in
themselves”, but they would still “have a bearing on North Korea’s
nuclear weapons capability”.
The arms would contribute to
“an air defence system to protect nuclear weapons on the ground”,
Dr Ong-Webb explained.
Chinpo’s lawyer, Mr Edmond
Pereira, said that the arms, specifically the two jet fighters
recovered, were “vintage” and “obsolete" as they were made between
1950s and 1970s. Old equipment would not help North Korea “advance
their technical know-how”, he added. Mr Pereira also noted that the
type of aircraft was specifically used for training, not military
purposes.
Chinpo also faces a second
charge of carrying on a remittance business without a valid licence
between Apr 2, 2009 and Jul 3, 2013. Chinpo allegedly performed 605
remittances totalling more than US$40 million (S$55 million).
Mr Lim Cheng Wah, a former
employee of Tonghae Shipping Agency, told the court that he
sometimes handled remittance payments for Tonghae.
According to court documents,
Tonghae and Chinpo were family businesses, sharing the same
premises and employees. There is no substantive separation between
the companies, which used Tonghae’s email account for
communications with North Korean entities, and Chinpo’s bank
account for outward remittances, court documents said.
Mr Lim said that the ship’s
name was not mentioned in remittance emails, because Tonghae did
not want payments to be blocked or delayed.
Mr Ng Sheng, a Deputy Director
of the banking department at Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS),
explained to the court that all financial institutions, including
remittance businesses, are required to be licensed by MAS. This is
to require companies to exercise due diligence when dealing with
customers, and to guard against money laundering, the prosecution
said.
Mr Ng told the court that
Chinpo never applied for a remittance licence.
For carrying on a remittance
business without a licence, Chinpo could be fined up to
S$100,000.
The trial
continues.
- CNA/vc