North Korean National Sentenced for Money Laundering Offenses | OPA

Mun Chol Myong (Mun), 55, a national of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), was sentenced today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to time served of 45 months’ imprisonment for multiple money laundering offenses. Mun laundered funds through the U.S. financial system as part of a scheme to raise capital and acquire goods for North Korea in violation of U.S. sanctions. Mun is the first ever North Korean national to be extradited to the United States and is subject to deportation following the successful completion of his sentence.

The indictment alleged that between April 2013 and November 2018, Mun and others conspired to transmit funds through the United States for the purpose of promoting bank fraud. Specifically, the indictment alleges that Mun and his co-conspirators used a network of front companies and falsified transaction records to conceal that the payments benefitted sanctioned North Korean entities and thereby deceived U.S. correspondent banks into executing correspondent banking transactions that they would otherwise have rejected. The indictment identifies more than $1.2 million in illicit transactions.

The indictment further alleged that Mun was affiliated with the DPRK’s primary intelligence organization, the Reconnaissance General Bureau, which is the subject of U.S. and U.N. sanctions. Mun pleaded guilty to all counts of the indictment, including one count of money laundering conspiracy, and four counts of money laundering, pursuant to an “Alford” plea, over the objection of the United States. Under the Alford plea, Mun pleaded guilty and avoided a trial but did not admit to the facts and conduct alleged in the indictment. 

This investigation was conducted by the FBI’s Minneapolis Field Office and coordinated by the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division. The Department of Justice would also like to thank the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and the U.S. Marshals Service Investigative Operations Division for providing analytical support during the investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tejpal S. Chawla and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael P. Grady for the District of Columbia, and Trial Attorney David C. Recker of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section prosecuted the case, with support from Paralegal Specialist Brian Rickers and Legal Assistant Jessica McCormick. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided substantial assistance in securing Mun’s arrest and extradition. The FBI’s Washington Field Office also provided substantial support during the extradition and investigation.