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| On March 21, 2021 (local time), reporters are waiting in front of the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which declared a break-up. © AFP=News1 © News1 Reporter Dongmyeong Woo |
For the first time, the U.S. Department of Justice officially confirmed the repatriation of a North Korean citizen, Moon Cheol-myeong, 55, who was delivered from Malaysia after being prosecuted in a U.S. court for money laundering.
According to Reuters and Voice of the United States (VOA) on the 22nd (local time), the US Department of Justice released a press release that day and said, “After nearly two years of legal proceedings, Moon was repatriated to the United States.” Case” said.
Moon Cheol-myeong is accused of laundering at least $1.5 million (about 1.7 billion won) by working in a trading business in Malaysia and using the US financial system. The U.S. Department of Justice sees this money as being used to supply luxury goods in North Korea.
In addition, the US Department of Justice said that Moon Cheol-myung first appeared in the Washington DC court on that day.
The U.S. Department of Justice reported that Moon Cheol-myeong illegally transferred funds from April 2013 to November 2018 using a bank account registered under the disguised company and name, and in May 2019 prosecuted Moon Cheol-myeong on six charges. In addition, it requested the extradition of the criminal to a Malaysian court.
The Malaysian court approved the repatriation in December of that year, and the actual repatriation took place on the 17th as the Supreme Court finally dismissed Moon’s appeal this month.
On the other hand, North Korea issued a statement on the 19th, “Malaysia sold our innocent citizens as criminals and finally forced them to lead them to the United States.” Will be,” he warned.