British American Tobacco fined $629m+ for business dealings with North Korea violating sanctions

The US government says British American Tobacco has agreed to pay record penalties for selling products to North Korea in violation of government sanctions against Pyongyang.

The US Justice Department announced on Tuesday that one of the world’s largest manufacturers of tobacco products and its subsidiary, BAT Marketing Singapore, will pay combined penalties of more than 629 million dollars.

Assistant Attorney General for National Security Matthew Olsen said it was the single largest North Korea sanctions-related penalty in the department’s history.

Olsen said British American Tobacco announced in 2007 that it had stopped selling tobacco to North Korea, but had continued to do business through a third-party company under the control of its subsidiary.

He said BAT and its Singapore subsidiary received more than 400 million dollars from North Korea from 2007 through 2017.

Olsen said the penalties are “the latest warning to companies everywhere about the costs and consequences of violating US sanctions.”

British American Tobacco is known for brands such as Lucky Strike and Dunhill.

BAT’s Chief Executive Officer Jack Bowles released a statement saying his firm deeply regrets the misconduct. He added, “Adhering to rigorous compliance and ethics standards has been, and remains, a top priority.”