A Chinese person was secretly imprisoned and jailed in Australia for a period of 11 months, at the request of US investigators looking into a tobacco smuggling operation that allegedly brought in an estimated $700 million for North Korea.
Jin Guanghua, 52, was captured by the Australian federal authorities in Melbourne in March of last year. Referred to in US court documents as an Australian resident, Jin was detained in Melbourne for a few months before being moved to immigration detention for extradition.
Global Tobacco Conspiracy
The FBI alleges that Jin and his associates worked for ten years to supply North Korea with tobacco to make phony tobacco products for its nuclear and ballistic missiles projects. At least $84 million was transferred between Jin and a co-conspirator's front firms' financial accounts, according to documents produced in a US federal court in Washington DC.
The FBI estimates that two North Korean military and government firms made $700 million on the tobacco they smuggled. Jin and his co-conspirators utilized bogus shipping documents to import tobacco and other items into North Korea and front businesses to launder US cash payments, according to the FBI's criminal complaint.
The conspirators deceived US correspondent banks, who would not have acted if they knew about North Korea. The 12 counts against Jin include bank fraud, International Emergency Economic Powers Act breaches, and laundering or conspiracy to launder "of monetary instruments".
Jin's companies are accused of intentionally using US banks to circumvent sanctions and export tobacco, other goods, including a Russian helicopter to North Korea. He was arrested by the AFP in March for US extradition. His detention began in August. The Australian Attorney General's Department said Jin was taken into custody after a US preliminary request for sanctions, bank fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy.
Jin faces decades in prison, millions in fines, and property confiscation if convicted in the US. The FBI claimed Jin and his collaborators ran the scheme through UK, New Zealand, UAE, and Chinese front companies. FBI seeks Chinese nationals Han Linlin and Qin Guoming, who may visit Australia, as per The Guardian.
FBI Offers Millions for North Korean Financier
Nearly $500,000 is given for any information leading to either man's arrest and conviction. The FBI is offering $5 million to capture North Korean financier Sim Hyon-Sop, who is accused of the scheme.
North Korea bought and sold tobacco and other goods through state-owned enterprises to fund WMD proliferation, according to the FBI. Chinese nationals ran JIN, QIN, and HAN. These defendants founded at least eight Dubai corporations called Winney to facilitate North Korean business.
It said that tobacco sales benefitted "owned by the North Korean military and government" "counterfeit cigarette" and other enterprises. AFP referred case questions to AG. The FBI did not respond.
Jin's meetings with secret workers and purchase of a $424,000 Khabarovsk chopper for North Korean clients through a Zimbabwean business are documented by the FBI, but his stay in Australia is unknown. He was the founder director of Solomon Australia Pty Ltd, a 2021 Australian company, and listed his house as a $5m Melbourne eastern suburbs mansion.
The other homeowner did not respond to a request for comment. The accountant does "compliance work" for Chinese investors in Australia, including property, according to his website. US court filings do not name Jin and others' tobacco suppliers, and Solomon Australia Pty Ltd. is not involved.
British American Tobacco and a subsidiary paid $630m in April 2023 to resolve North Korea-related bank fraud and sanctions violations. Indictment came the same day. Whether the cases are related is unknown, according to Tramp.
