U.S. to Give Counterfeiting Report

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network of U.S. Treasury Department currently investigating North Korean counterfeiting allegations and the circulation of illegal U.S. bills in Macao will visit the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MOFAT), the Ministry of Finance and Economy (MOFE) and the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) on January 23 to share its investigation results.

The network will reportedly present evidence to officials from the North America Division and the North Korean Nuclear Program Bureau at the MOFAT of North Korean involvement in the circulation of forged notes that revealed in its Banco Delta Asia Bank (BDA) investigation in Macao. The bank allegedly traded fake notes from North Korea.

“Because the network is not part of the State Department, which is responsible for the U.S. government’s foreign policy, but works for the Treasury Department, it won’t mention specifics of American North Korea policy. It will offer the information to us instead,” a Korean government official said.

The person in charge of the network is Daniel Glacer, deputy assistant secretary for terrorist financing and financial crimes (Assistant Director General in Korea) at the U.S. Treasury.

Network officials are scheduled to meet FIU officials, including FIU Commissioner Ryu Jae-han, after announcing its investigation results at the MOFAT that afternoon.

Some government officials speculate that considering the nature of the FIU, the network might ask it to investigate accounts or certain figures in Korea linked to the North’s counterfeiting.

What the FIU is responsible for is investigating illegal financial activities such as dubious transactions, drug smuggling and arms trafficking that the bank reported among its transactions of more than 50 million won.

For this reason, if the network team confirms that counterfeit money was transferred to Korea from Macao, or that the account carrying money sent to Macao from Korea was used in trading forged notes, it could request the FIU to check who sent the money or what account was used based on the above facts.

Meanwhile, according to the website of the U.S. consulates in Hong Kong and Macao on January 20, Glacer told Macao officials that money laundering and the circulation of forged bills are global threats and urged them to make sure financial institutes like BDA don’t make it easy for North Korea to commit illegal activities.