Kuala Lumpur | A North Korean will be extradited from Malaysia to the United States where he is to be tried for money laundering, after exhausting a last resort on Tuesday in Malaysian justice.
Mun Chol Myong, who had lived in the Southeast Asian country for a decade with his family, was arrested in 2019 following a US extradition request.
He denies, according to his lawyers, having been at the head of a criminal group in charge of exports to North Korea, in violation of international sanctions, which would also have laundered funds through shell companies, which the accuses the FBI (US Federal Police).
The North Korean has challenged his extradition in Malaysian justice, and his defense pleads that he is an innocent victim trapped in diplomatic tensions between North Korea and the United States.
But Malaysia’s highest court, the Putrajaya Federal Court, on Tuesday rejected his last appeal, saying all the conditions for his extradition were met.
Prosecutor Mohamad Dusuki Mokhtar had previously considered that it was “the government’s duty to facilitate extradition”.
“This is a relationship between two nations, we don’t need to worry about the fairness of the trial. The actual trial will take place in the United States, ”he said.
The fiftieth year old was not in court for the judgment. His lawyer, Gooi Soon Seng, said his family was concerned about the decision and said the authorities were to announce the date of the extradition later.
He is accused of four counts of money laundering and two counts of conspiracy to launder money in the course of his work in Singapore, according to his lawyers.
The authorities did not say what goods he was able to illegally export to North Korea. Other cases in the past have revealed exports of alcohol, watches and other luxury goods.
The United Nations, the United States and other countries have imposed sanctions prohibiting the export of certain products to North Korea, in response to its continued nuclear and ballistic programs.