A Singaporean has been jailed for selling nearly $1 million worth of strawberry milk and coffee to North Korea, following other incidents involving sanctions-busting trades in Pyongyang.
Phua Sze Hee, 59, a former executive of drinks company Pokka International, was sentenced to five weeks in prison on Monday following pleading guilty.
From 2017 to 2018, he sold drinks, including strawberry flavored milk and coffee drinks, to several companies in Singapore, knowing they would be exported to North Korea for sale.
North Korea is the target of a volley of sanctions, notably from the United Nations, because of its nuclear and ballistic missile tests. Singapore suspended trade ties with the country in 2017.
Phua Sze Hee received no commission from these sales, but they helped him meet his monthly sales targets, according to court documents.
According to the documents, a client had introduced Mr. Phua to “a Mr. Kim, who worked as an ambassador at the North Korean Embassy in Singapore” in 2014 and was later introduced to another embassy employee.
“Pokka has not been charged with any offense and has pledged to ensure compliance with all national laws and UN sanctions, including ensuring he has no relationship with the North Korea,” the company said in a statement Tuesday, noting that Mr. Phua was a former employee and acted once morest management policy.
Exporting goods from Singapore to North Korea is punishable by a fine of up to 100,000 Singapore dollars ($74,000) or three times the value of the exported goods, together with a prison term of up to two years.
In recent years, several companies and individuals in Singapore, a trade hub and financial center, have been prosecuted for supplying banned goods to North Korea.
Two Singaporean companies were indicted earlier this year for exporting whisky, wine and other beverages to North Korea.
