British American Tobacco headquarters in London.
A subsidiary of British American Tobacco (BAT) admitted to violating U.S. sanctions by selling cigarettes to North Korea.
Its parent company agreed to pay U.S. authorities $635.2M to settle charges related to the dealings.
- BAT said it has reached a deferred
prosecution agreement with the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ), which
accused the company of conspiring to defraud financial institutions in
order to do business with North Korean entities.
- Separately,
the company's indirect subsidiary, BAT Marketing Singapore, pleaded
guilty to charges related to its business activities in North Korea between 2007 and 2017.
- BAT has entered a separate civil settlement with the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control.
- The company has agreed to pay $635.2M to settle all three cases.
- The DOJ has filed criminal charges
against a North Korean banker and two accomplices who allegedly ran a
"multi-year scheme to facilitate the sale of tobacco to North Korea."
- North Korea faces sanctions from several countries for human rights violations, cyberattacks, money laundering, and its ongoing nuclear weapons program.
