The haul, hidden under heaps of sugar and discovered by Panamanian authorities, was the biggest load of arms and related materials ever to be intercepted on its way to or from the isolated North.
In announcing the verdict, Singapore District Judge Jasvender Kaur said the firm, Chinpo Shipping Company, could have contributed to the nuclear-related programs or activities of North Korea.
The company was also found guilty of running a remittance business without a valid license for more than four years. Chinpo had wired USD 72,017 from its Bank of China account to a Panama-based shipping agent in July 2013 for the return passage of the MV Chong Chon Gang through the Panama Canal.
That month, Panamanian authorities found the ship loaded with arms and related materials weighing 474 tons, including two MiG-21 fighter jets, anti-tank rockets and SA-2 and SA-3 Russian surface-to-air missile systems. The military equipment was bound for North Korea and hidden under 10,500 tons of sugar in the cargo hold.
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Instead of asking its client for documentation to find out what the remittance was for, the company failed to conduct due diligence, the judge said.
"Accordingly, the prosecution does not have the legal burden of proving that the defendant company knowingly transferred that sum," she said. "Chinpo was aware of the US and United Nations sanctions against DPRK. Since the second half of 2010, Chinpo stopped indicating the name of vessels in the outgoing remittance forms."
Defense lawyer Edmond Pereira argued that the company did not conduct remittance transactions for purposes of gain, and that remittances were contingent to its role as Ocean Maritime Management's general and special agent.
Chinpo had applied for a total of 605 outward remittances totaling $40 million from 2009 to 2013 on behalf of North Korean entities. Chinpo's director, Tan Cheng Hoe, also heads associated companies Tonghee Shipping Agency and Great Best Trading.