According to Kyodo (via Japan Today):
Prosecutors indicted the president of a trading company in Kumamoto Prefecture on Tuesday on a charge of illegally exporting to China a power shovel that can be used in the development of weapons of mass destruction and which was later transported to North Korea, investigators said. Hiromitsu Tsutsumi, 63, of Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture, was arrested last month along with the 37-year-old head of another trading firm in Fukuoka City, but prosecutors have decided not to indict the latter due to insufficient evidence.
Tsutsumi is suspected of exporting to China a used power shovel in April last year under the name of the trading firm in Fukuoka by submitting to customs a false declaration and without obtaining permission from the economy, trade and industry minister, according to the indictment. The Fukuoka prefectural police said they have confirmed that the power shovel has since been transported to North Korea from China’s Dalian.
Tsutsumi has also exported three other power shovels to Hong Kong in February last year and has told investigators that he received orders from North Korea and was given about 10 million yen in advance payment, and that the power shovel he exported in April 2009 was a reward for the ordering party, according to the police. Power shovels are designated as items subject to the export control regulation as they could be diverted for military use, such as for launch pads for ballistic missiles.
Just last week another Japanese firm was busted for illegally exporting luxury goods to the DPRK.
Read the full story here:
Kumamoto trading firm head indicted over illegal exports to China
Kyodo (Japan Today)
7/14/2010
