Jailed 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 of sanctions-busting trade in Pyongyang.

Phua Sze Hee, 59, a former executive at drinks company Pokka International, was sentenced to five weeks in jail on Monday after pleading guilty.

From 2017 to 2018, he sold beverages, including strawberry flavored milk and coffee drinks, to a number of companies in Singapore that were known to be exported to North Korea for sale.

North Korea has been the target of United Nations sanctions, particularly because of its nuclear and ballistic missile tests. Singapore severed trade ties with the country in 2017.

Phua Sze Hee received no commission from these sales, but they helped her meet her monthly sales goals, according to court documents.

According to the documents, a client Mr. He introduced Pua in 2014 to “Mr. Kim, who worked as a diplomat at the North Korean embassy in Singapore,” and was later introduced to another embassy employee.

“Boka has not been charged with any crime and has pledged to comply with all national laws and UN sanctions, including ensuring that he has no ties to North Korea,” the agency said in a statement on Tuesday. Acted against former employee and management policy.

Exporting goods from Singapore to North Korea is punishable by a fine of 100,000 Singapore dollars ($74,000) or three times the value of the exported goods and up to two years in prison.

In recent years, a number of companies and individuals in trade and financial hub Singapore have been prosecuted for supplying North Korea with banned goods.

Earlier this year, two Singapore companies were charged with exporting whiskey, wine and other beverages to North Korea.