A prison for selling coffee and strawberry milk to North Korea

A Singaporean has been jailed for selling nearly $1 million worth of strawberry milk and coffee to North Korea, after other incidents involving sanctions-busting deals in Pyongyang.

Fuwa Sze He, 59, a former CEO of beverage company Boca International, was sentenced to five weeks in prison on Monday after pleading guilty.

From 2017 to 2018, he sold drinks, including strawberry-flavored milk and coffee drinks, to several companies in Singapore, knowing that they would be exported to North Korea for sale.

North Korea is targeted by a barrage of sanctions, particularly from the United Nations, over its nuclear and ballistic missile tests. Singapore suspended trade relations with the country in 2017.

Phua Sze Hee did not receive any commission from these sales, but they did help him meet his monthly sales targets, according to court documents.

According to the documents, an agent introduced Mr. Fu to “Mr. Kim, who served as ambassador at the North Korean embassy in Singapore” in 2014 and was later introduced to another employee of the embassy.

“No crime has been brought against Boca and has pledged to ensure compliance with all national laws and United Nations sanctions, including ensuring that there is no relationship between him and North Korea,” the company said in a statement on Tuesday, noting that Mr. Foa was a former employee and worked against management policy.

L’exportation of marchandises of Singapore vers la Corée du Nord est passible d’une amende pouvant atteindre 100,000 Singapore dollars (74 000 dollars) or trois fois la valeur des marchandises exports, assortie d’une peine d’emprisonnement pouvant aller jusqu’à two years.

In recent years, several companies and individuals in Singapore, a trade and financial hub, have been sued for supplying banned goods to North Korea.

Two Singaporean companies were charged earlier this year for exporting whiskey, wine and other beverages to North Korea.