The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a one-year jail term for a man convicted of selling crude oil to North Korea in contravention of the Counter-Terrorism Financing Act (資恐防制法).
Huang Wang-ken (黃旺根) in 2018 sold 2,829 tonnes of oil to North Korea by arranging two illicit ship-to-ship fuel transfers in international waters in breach of UN sanctions against Pyongyang, the court said.
Huang owned Jui Pang Shipping Co, Jui Zong Ship Management Co and Jui Cheng Shipping Co.
Photo: Reuters
He also owned the Panama-flagged Shang Yuan Bao tanker, the court said.
Huang made the first illegal shipment in May 2018, in collusion with an oil importer surnamed Wen (溫). The duo first shipped 1,350 tonnes of oil from Taichung to the Port of Hong Kong. The cargo was then taken to international waters and transferred from the Shang Yuan Bao to a North Korean vessel, the court said.
The two men used the same method to transport another 1,479 tonnes of oil to North Korean ships two weeks later, it said.
The illicit sales enabled North Korea to import refined petroleum in contravention of international sanctions, the court added.
US satellites monitoring North Korean tankers captured the illegal activities of the Shang Yuan Bao, the ruling said.
The UN Security Council in October 2018 sanctioned the vessel over the transfers, with the US Department of the Treasury subjecting Huang and his three marine transportation entities to secondary sanctions in August 2019.
A lower court in April last year sentenced Huang to 14 months in prison.
Huang appealed that ruling, and the High Court’s Kaohsiung branch in October reduced his sentence to one year, saying that it reduced his sentence only slightly, because Huang had confessed to his crime only in the most recent trial.
The High Court criticized Huang for “disregarding the Counter-Terrorism Financing Act, seriously eroding Taiwan’s image and putting the country at risk of being sanctioned by the UN or the international community.”
The Supreme Court on Thursday also upheld a separate verdict against Huang, sentencing him to four months in prison for document forgery. The sentence can be commuted to a fine.
Huang gave a false reason for applying for an entry permit for the Shang Yuan Bao’s chief engineer when filing documents at the National Immigration Agency’s branch at the Port of Kaohsiung, the court said.
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