• Chong Hock Yen made about S$120,000 in profit from his illegal trading with North Korea
• Firms which he headed had supplied luxury goods such as perfume and cosmetics to the reclusive nation
• Prosecutors said they would appeal against the jail term and fines imposed

SINGAPORE — For almost six years, Chong Hock Yen instructed three of his companies to illegally sell about S$575,000 worth of luxury goods such as perfume to North Korean entities.

On Monday (Oct 12), the 60-year-old Singaporean was sentenced to three weeks’ jail.

The three companies which he headed were also ordered to pay fines of:

• S$120,000 for SCN Singapore, which is involved in wholesale commodities trade

• S$10,000 for Sindok Trading, which was renamed BSS Global in 2015

• S$10,000 for Laurich International, which deals in industrial machinery. It was renamed Gunnar Singapore in 2016

Chong was a director and sole decision maker at the firms, with their main business being supplying goods to North Korea. These included cosmetics, perfume, watches clad with a precious metal and musical instruments.

He earned about S$120,000 in profits from his offences.

Under the United Nations Act, any person in Singapore, or Singaporeans outside of the country, are banned from selling or supplying luxury items to the reclusive state.

Prosecutors said that they will appeal against all the sentences and asked for a stay, but Chong initially said he wanted to serve his jail time immediately.

After some discussion, Chong agreed to remain out on S$120,000 bail pending the appeal. District Judge Jasbendar Kaur allowed him to return to Johor Baru where his wife and young child live.

Chong pleaded guilty last month to eight counts of engaging in a conspiracy to supply luxury items worth nearly $270,000.

Thirty-five similar charges were taken into consideration for sentencing.

In July, his secretary Lam Hon Lan, 40, was fined S$6,000 for helping him, while North Korean accomplice Li Hyon was jailed four weeks.

Li Hyon, 31, studied in Singapore prior to 2014 before helping in the business of his father Li Ik, who owned the Bugsae Shop departmental store chain in North Korea.

Li Hyon was the contact liaison between SCN and another Singaporean supplier, T Specialist International.

T Specialist’s director, Ng Kheng Wah, was jailed for two years and 10 months last year for supplying more than S$6 million worth of luxury goods to North Korea.

WHAT CHONG DID

The court heard that Chong committed his offences from December 2010 to November 2016. He shipped luxury items to:

• Bugsae Shop

• Korea Jangsaeng Trading Corporation (Pyongyang)

• MG Corporation

• New Hope Joint Venture Corporation (Pyongyang)

The recipients made payments to Chong’s companies’ bank accounts, and later to Chong’s personal bank accounts in China, through front companies incorporated in places such as Hong Kong and the British Virgin Islands.

SCN supplied the bulk of the goods directly to the Bugsae Shop via air shipment through Beijing, sea shipment through Dalian, and by hand at airport check-ins.

This happened on 43 occasions.

Li Hyon helped out from late 2014 to early 2017. This was because his father travelled frequently to North Korea and could not easily contact anyone outside due to North Korean restrictions.

Besides being sent or copied in emails from SCN containing sales invoices of the goods, he personally carried goods to North Korea on three occasions.

Chong could have been fined up to S$500,000, jailed for up to 10 years, or both for each charge.

He was represented by Senior Counsel N Sreenivasan and Mr Balamurugan Selvarajan from K&L Gates Straits Law.