Sale of luxury goods to Kim: Austrian fined
Source: Agencies |
December 8, 2010, Wednesday
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A VIENNA court has fined an Austrian man 3.3 million euros (US$4.4 million) over the sale of luxury goods, including yachts, believed destined for North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il, a court official said yesterday.
The businessman, who was not named, was also handed a nine-month suspended sentence late on Monday for the dealings which violate an international trade embargo against North Korea, court official Christian Gneist said.
"The amount was 3.3 million euros because this was the amount he received as payment," Gneist said. The trade violated United Nations sanctions against North Korea imposed over its nuclear bomb tests.
Working with a North Korean intermediary close to Kim, the Viennese man tried to procure two yachts and received payment for them, Gneist said.
Prosecutors also accused him of lining up eight top-end Mercedes-Benz S-Class cars and musical instruments, including a Steinway grand piano, for Pyongyang, Austrian daily Kurier reported.
The Austrian man pleaded guilty and told the court he had not realized what he was getting into, Kurier said.
"It doesn't have anything to do with atomic bombs. I am not interested in politics. I am a businessman," it quoted him as telling the court.
Italian financial police helped to break up the sale of the yachts last year, which prosecutors believed to be a birthday present for Kim. The Austrian bought them from the Azimut-Benetti boatyard, one of the world's leading yachtmakers. Azimut-Benetti was not accused of wrongdoing and had cooperated fully in the investigation.
The sale of luxury goods to North Korea is banned under a UN resolution in retaliation for the country's nuclear testing program.
The businessman, who was not named, was also handed a nine-month suspended sentence late on Monday for the dealings which violate an international trade embargo against North Korea, court official Christian Gneist said.
"The amount was 3.3 million euros because this was the amount he received as payment," Gneist said. The trade violated United Nations sanctions against North Korea imposed over its nuclear bomb tests.
Working with a North Korean intermediary close to Kim, the Viennese man tried to procure two yachts and received payment for them, Gneist said.
Prosecutors also accused him of lining up eight top-end Mercedes-Benz S-Class cars and musical instruments, including a Steinway grand piano, for Pyongyang, Austrian daily Kurier reported.
The Austrian man pleaded guilty and told the court he had not realized what he was getting into, Kurier said.
"It doesn't have anything to do with atomic bombs. I am not interested in politics. I am a businessman," it quoted him as telling the court.
Italian financial police helped to break up the sale of the yachts last year, which prosecutors believed to be a birthday present for Kim. The Austrian bought them from the Azimut-Benetti boatyard, one of the world's leading yachtmakers. Azimut-Benetti was not accused of wrongdoing and had cooperated fully in the investigation.
The sale of luxury goods to North Korea is banned under a UN resolution in retaliation for the country's nuclear testing program.
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