Tan Wee Beng, a 43-year old Singaporean managing director of commodity trading company Wee Tiong (S) Pte Ltd, who is also on the US Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) most wanted list has been charged with forging invoices to conceal deals made with North Korean proliferation entities, reports Channel News Asia.
Tan was charged in Singapore (19 June) for 20 alleged counts of forgery to cover his tracks from banks after having sold sugar to parties from North Korea from his company Wee Tiong Pte Ltd and its affiliated firm, Morgan Marcos.
Along with Tan, Malaysian Bong Hui Ping, shipping manager at the company was charged for aiding and abetting Tan to commit the 20 counts of forgery.
According to the FBI arrest warrant, Tan and others in his company allegedly fulfilled millions of dollars in commodities contracts for North Korea as early as 2011.
“To do so, Tan Wee Beng allegedly made a concerted effort to launder money through the United States and Singaporean financial systems by concealing payment origins and structuring transactions to avoid regulator scrutiny”, explained the FBI.
“In some cases, when wire payments were rejected, Tan Wee Beng and Wee Tiong (S) Pte Ltd orchestrated payment in bulk cash, often hand-delivered by North Koreans.”
Photo credit: US Federal Bureau of Investigation
Published: 22 June, 2020
Marine Police Force Region 3 Tok Bali were alerted by the public to a vessel conducting an unauthorised diesel transfer at a jetty in Pasir Putih Kelantan, said Commander.
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