(25 Apr 2023)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
POOL
Washington - 25 April 2023
1. Walk up officials
++BLACK FRAMES++
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Matthew G. Olsen, Assistant Attorney General for National Security:
“Today is the culmination of a long running investigation. The Justice Department is announcing a deferred prosecution agreement with British American Tobacco, one of the world's largest producers of tobacco products, as well as a guilty plea by its subsidiary, BAT Marketing Singapore. The agreement and the plea resolve charges for bank fraud and for violations of U.S. sanctions against North Korea.”
++BLACK FRAMES++
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Matthew G. Olsen, Assistant Attorney General for National Security:
“Under this agreement, British American Tobacco will pay more than $629 million in penalties. This is the single largest North Korean sanctions penalty in the history of the Department of Justice. And the latest warning to companies everywhere about the costs and the consequences of violating U.S. sanctions.”
++BLACK FRAMES++
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Matthew G. Olsen, Assistant Attorney General for National Security:
“U.S. sanctions are increasingly at the center of U.S. national security and at the Department of Justice. We are responsible- responsible for putting teeth into those sanctions. The United States faces rising threats from authoritarian regimes around the world, including North Korea, Russia, Iran and China.”
5. Cutaway mid of press conference
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Matthew M. Graves, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia:
“It's estimated that for every dollar North Korea invests in cigarette production materials, it realizes $20 of revenue. A substantial portion of this profit is believed to flow back directly to the North Korean government, its military and its WMD program. Our actions announced today strike at all parts of the system that prop up these illegal sales.”
7. Cutaway wide of press conference
8.SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Jung H. Pak, Deputy Special Representative for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea:
“Pleased to announce that the US Department of State, through the Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program, is announcing a reward offer of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest and or conviction of DPRK national Sim Hyon-Sop. We are also offering separate reward offers of up to $500,000 each for information leading to the arrests and/or convictions of People's Republic of China nationals Han Linlin and Qin Guoming."
++BLACK FRAMES++
9. Walk off
STORYLINE:
A British tobacco company has agreed to a $629 million settlement to resolve allegations that it did illegal business with North Korea in violation of U.S. sanctions, the Justice Department said Tuesday.
British American Tobacco has entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the Justice Department while the company’s Singapore subsidiary pleaded guilty to bank fraud and sanctions charges. BAT confirmed the settlement in its own statement, saying it resolves “previously disclosed investigations into suspicions of sanctions breaches.”
In addition, federal prosecutors disclosed a cigarette trafficking scheme that raised money for North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, announcing charges against three men — a North Korean banker and two Chinese facilitators. The State Department has announced a reward for information leading to their arrest.
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