• Cambodia
  • North Korea
  • Freelance Journalism
  • Freedom of speech
  • Human Rights
  • Internet Journalism
  • Religious Extremism

Nate Thayer - Journalist

A Compilation of Current Reporting and Archived Published Work of Journalist Nate Thayer

  • Support Publication of Sympathy for the Devil
  • Shop
  • Blog
  • About Nate Thayer
    • Selected Reviews and Commentary
  • Awards and Honors
You are here: Home / Blog Nate Thayer / North Korea’s Hall of Mirrors: Fake Global Network of Shell Companies Key to Illicit Arms Exports

North Korea’s Hall of Mirrors: Fake Global Network of Shell Companies Key to Illicit Arms Exports

May 31, 2013 by wpfixit

North Korea’s Global Hall of Mirrors: Shadowy front companies crucial to banned Pyongyang arms exports

Investigation reveals complex web of false shell corporations spanning the world enabling DPRK arms exports

By Nate Thayer
NK News
May 30, 2013

(See entire story at NK News http://www.nknews.org/2013/05/the-front-companies-facilitating-north-korean-arms-exports/ )
Four years after an aircraft was seized in Bangkok with a cargo of illicit weapons being sent from North Korea to Iran, the UN and other governments have concluded an investigation revealing new details of a sophisticated worldwide criminal network to circumvent UN sanctions designed to halt the proliferation of nuclear, missile, and other technologies to some of the world’s most volatile conflicts.

Dozens of shell companies involving at least 16 countries were created in the weeks before the aircraft was seized – paper industries designed to disguise the shadowy players behind the 2009 arms shipment that almost evaded international law enforcement.

On the night of December 11, 2009, the U.S. Ambassador to Thailand called the Prime Minister with an important request: U.S. intelligence had information a cargo plane had departed Pyongyang smuggling 35 tons of clandestine arms and was scheduled to land in Bangkok to refuel. The U.S. wanted the Thai army to seize the aircraft and its cargo, banned under international laws mandated by United Nations sanctions.

But when the aircraft was seized at 4.00pm the next day, the international intricate web of shell companies simply vanished into thin air.

In reality, they never existed except on paper.

The companies were all mail drops hurriedly established in obscure offices spanning the globe. They were all creations of other legal companies that exploited loopholes in national laws from New Zealand to Hong Kong to Ukraine to London – established to hide the true identities of the owners.

The officers listed on company registration papers were “nominee” directors with no power or knowledge over company operations. They received their instructions from the real owners whose true identities, nationalities, and locations they did not know.

Like an optical illusion, the complex global network was a hall of mirrors and the real identities of the powers behind the operation vanished immediately when the cargo was seized.

The only people that proved quickly identifiable were the airplane crew:–one Belarusian and four Ukrainians–who had no idea who they were working for, what cargo they were transporting, who their cache of goods was being delivered to, or even to where it was destined.

But the illicit weapons cache did yield a gold mine of documents that paint a vivid portrait of the complex global network used to evade international and national laws.

Leaked UN reports two weeks ago said their four year investigation into the Bangkok seizure had been concluded, and named three individuals who were part of the intricate web of deceit.

AN INTRICATE WEB

The 52-page confidential report by the Panel of Experts on sanctions against the DPRK named two Ukrainian citizens, Yuri Lunov and Igor Karev-Popov, and one citizen of Kazakhstan, Aleksandr Viktorovich Zykov, for their involvement in the North Korea arms cache seized in Bangkok.

Kazakh Aleksandr Viktorovich Zykov was an international arms trafficker whose company, then registered in the United Arab Emirates, owned the Russian made cargo plane until just months prior to it being used to transport the North Korean arms shipment.

Ukrainian Yuriy Lunov owned the Georgian company, Air West, who held the operating license to the aircraft, and hired the crew to fly the cargo plane.

Ukrainian Igor Karev-Popov was the mysterious figure who was “a UK based European” who controlled the New Zealand registered shell company, SP Trading, which from the shadows leased the aircraft from Air West from SP Trading’s shell mail-drop office in Kiev, Ukraine.

Upon leasing the plane, SP Trading signed an agreement with a just created Hong Kong registered front company, Union Top Management (UTM), which chartered the aircraft.

Four days later the aircraft departed Azerbaijan for a circuitous trip around the globe to Pyongyang.

From shell offices that included Kiev, Ukraine, Auckland, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and a mysterious company registered in London, SP Trading and UTM choreographed the operation. The cargo, which included 35 surface-to-air missiles that could theoretically shoot down a passenger plane, originated in Pyongyang and were destined for Hezbollah via distributers in Iran and Syria.

The real beneficial owners of the New Zealand shell company, SP Trading, ltd., and the Hong registered UTM were in real control of getting the weapons from North Korea to Tehran, where they would subsequently have gone to the Palestinian guerrilla army, Hezbollah, via Syria.

The four year UN investigation by the Panel of Experts, in cooperation with a number of law enforcement, aviation, and financial investigators and intelligence agencies, notably New Zealand, uncovered a jigsaw puzzle that has revealed remarkable details of how international criminal syndicated transport illicit commodities under the radar of international and national laws.

A PORTRAIT EMERGES

While North Korea can mask operations within its own borders, there are many national and international laws to abide by in order to operate globally – particularly in shipping, international flight operations, financial systems and company registration. This is compounded within the national borders of countries that are more sensitive to operating within the parameters of international laws and regulations.

Aircraft ownership, operator licenses, safety requirements, cargo manifests, international flight plans, etc, all required documentation – documentation that was found aboard the seized aircraft in 2009, and provided a paper trail that sparked 4 years of international investigation.

“New Zealand authorities investigated the beneficiaries of SP Trading and passed information to the (UN) Sanctions committee,” a New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson told NK News, confirming their ongoing investigation into who was behind the New Zealand-registered companies linked to the seized plane.

“New Zealand legislation will shortly be passed that will close the loophole for non-resident directors,” the New Zealand government added.

IGOR KAREV-POPOV

The “non-resident director” and beneficiary of SP Trading was Igor Karev-Popov, – the same Igor Karev-Popov identified as sanctioned by the UN Panel of Experts this May, and said to be the most important power behind the network revealed so far.

But while Karev-Popov had never previously been publicly identified by name, the New Zealand government has been aware of his identity since at least 2010.

He is is the mysterious unnamed “UK based client” who was the person behind the creation of the two key paper companies, SP Trading and UTM, who controlled decisions to lease the aircraft, create the flight plan, pay those involved, and, most importantly, approve the cargo manifest that, ultimately contained the 35 tons of proscribed armaments.

The real and beneficial owners of SP Trading and UTM were in control of getting the weapons from North Korea to Iran.

Those involved in the actual transport of the proscribed cargo and who set up the web of front companies, knew very little, if anything, about the scheme they played various compartmentalized roles in. It is routine, in fact, for flight crews to have no knowledge of the specifics of the cargo they are hauling, arms trafficking investigators say…….(See entire story at NK News http://www.nknews.org/2013/05/the-front-companies-facilitating-north-korean-arms-exports/ )

Filed Under: Blog Nate Thayer, Middle East, Nate Thayer, Nate Thayer blog, NK News, North Korea, North Korea crime, North Korea economy, North Korea sanctions, North Korean covert operations, North Korean Missiles, organized crime, Smuggling Tagged With: democratic peoples republic of korea, Nate Thayer, NK News, North Korea, North Korea Covert Operations, North Korea crime, North Korea sanctions Kim Jong-un, organized crime

Pre-order Sympathy for the Devil, the new book by Nate Thayer

Pre-order sympathy for the devil book nate thayer

Support Publication of Sympathy for the Devil

Sympathy for the Devil: A Journalist's Memoir from Inside Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge I have been researching and writing Sympathy for the Devil: A Journalist's Memoir from Inside Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge for 25 years. For 25 years, I  conducted original reporting to compile what is now an 800 page, unedited manuscript. I have accumulated millions of words of notes, hundreds of hours of audio and video recordings and hundreds of photographs, and … [More...]

Please donate to support this blog

I am a freelance journalist who makes my living from writing. If you enjoy this blog, a donation, no matter how small or large, would be much appreciated and will go directly to supporting my ability to write and publish independently. I am grateful for the support of my readers. Donate Button with Credit Cards

FOLLOW NATE THAYER ON FACEBOOK

Tag Cloud

AP North Korea Cambodia Chris Barker Conspiracy theories Corruption democratic peoples republic of korea Dogs donald trump Freelance Journalism free speech Human Rights Humor Hun Sen Internet Journalism Journalism Journalism ethics Khmer Rouge Kim Jong-un Kim Jong Il KKK Ku Klux Klan Lamont Loyal White Knights Loyal White Knights KKK Media Ethics middle east Nate Thayer Nate Thayer blog North Korea North Korea Covert Operations North Korea Media North Korean propaganda North Korea sanctions Kim Jong-un organized crime Pol Pot Religious Extremism sex Social Media Sympathy for the Devil Terrorism U.S. domestic Terrorism U.S. Foreign Policy U.S. Politics United States War Correspondent

Categories

Featured Posts: Sympathy for the Devil by Nate Thayer

Lunching With Mass Murderers: Khmer Rouge leaders explain why they slaughtered their own people, and why it was, really, for the best: Excerpts from “Sympathy for the Devil” By Nate Thayer

Why You Want To Avoid Getting Blown Up By A Landmine: From ‘Sympathy for the Devil’ By Nate Thayer

An Invitation to the Khmer Rouge Controlled Jungles: A travel Itinerary to the World’s Most Clandestine Guerrilla Army

Pol Pot's Trial Nate Thayer FEER

How to Be Buddy-Buddy With a Guerilla General

The Final Collapse of the Khmer Rouge: how the US dropped the ball when offered Pol Pot for trial

“Who is that singer? Johnny Jackson? Like he says, ‘We are the World!’ We are with the West! Let’s join together!” said a Khmer Rouge cadre

Nate Thayer: periodismo, crowdfunding y autopromo

My Sordid Love Affair with Journalism

More Posts about Sympathy for the Devil

Recent Blog Posts

  • Never trust the internet or people are nuanced: A case study
  • Texas White Supremacist Jailed for Plot to Blow Up Federal Buildings
  • Nazi protesting Ohio CV-19 quarantine identified
  • Iran Revolutionary Guard Claims it ‘Invented’ Known Fake CV-19 Detector
  • U.S. Law Enforcement: Leader of U.S. Nazi Terror Group is a Russian Spy

Most Popular Posts

abc stolen pic july 29 1997 1108 am edt

How Ted Koppel and ABC TV Tried to Steal my Life Work

How Ted Koppel and ABC TV Tried to Steal my Life Work By Nate Thayer December 8, 2013 I am banned by legal agreement to write the following: ABC Television/ Disney Corporation, after seven years in court, where they attempted to bankrupt me and ruin my reputation for objecting to them stealing fifteen years of […]

Herb Trader Arthur Torsone

My Friend, Arthur: the World’s Biggest Dope Trafficker

Herb Trader: A Tale of Treachery and Espionage in the Global Marijuana Trade A Book Review, Sort of….. Excerpts from Sympathy for the Devil:A Journalist’s Memoir from Inside Pol Pot’s Cambodia. (To support the publication of Sympathy for the Devil, and to read other excerpts, see the right hand column of this website) (Copyright Nate Thayer. […]

A Day in the Life of a Freelance Journalist—2013

A Day in the Life of a Freelance Journalist—2013 Here is an exchange between the Global Editor of the Atlantic Magazine and myself this afternoon attempting to solicit my professional services for an article they sought to publish after reading my story “25 Years of Slam Dunk Diplomacy: Rodman trip comes after 25 years of […]

Menu

  • Support Publication of Sympathy for the Devil
  • Shop
  • Blog
  • About Nate Thayer
    • Selected Reviews and Commentary
  • Awards and Honors

Menu

  • Cambodia
  • North Korea
  • Freelance Journalism
  • Freedom of speech
  • Human Rights
  • Internet Journalism
  • Religious Extremism

Cambodia

The Night I Lived: Excerpts from Sympathy for the Devil

North Korea

Jim Jones and North Korea: Comrades in Political Mass Murder

Human Rights

Assassination of Cambodian #Kemley Marks Hun Sen’s Mafia Rule

Internet Journalism

Washington Post gets punked by Malaysian earthquake “naked blogger”

Copyright © 2022 · News Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in