Panama Papers: British banker set up firm ‘used by North Korea to sell weapons’
A BRITISH banker set up a secret offshore company allegedly used by the North Korean regime to help sell arms and increase its nuclear weapons programme.
By SELINA SYKES
Express.co.uk
Tue, Apr 5, 2016
Nigel Cowie, who spent two decades living in communist North Korea, set up a Pyongyang front company DCB Finance Limited, registered in the British Virgin Islands, the Panama Papers show.
The Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca incorporated the company despite North Korea being a high-risk destination.
The publication of the Panama Papers has led to political figures and celebrities being accused of laundering money, avoiding sanctions and evading tax.
Mr Cowie, who speaks fluent Korean and Chinese, said the company was used for legitimate business and he was unaware of any unlawful transactions.
DCB Finance, which was established in 2006, was later put under sanctions by the US Treasury for raising funds for North Korea and being linked to a bank helping to fund the regime’s nuclear weapons programme.
The leaked Panama Papers reveal the owners of DCB Finance were a North Korean official, Kim Chol Sam and Mr Cowie, who was also CEO of the sanctioned Daedong Credit Bank.
Kim was suspected of facilitating transactions worth hundreds of thousands and managing millions of dollars in North Korean-related accounts.
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