Draft of UN report shows U.S., Ireland responded to UN inquiries over sanctions breach
Dennis Rodman and betting company Paddy Power appear to have escaped punishment following charges they breached UN sanctions prohibiting the transfer of luxury goods to North Korea, a draft of a forthcoming UN Panel of Experts (PoE) report shows.
The former NBA basket baller and Irish gambling giant were investigated last year by the PoE over items they had presented to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a much publicized visit to Pyongyang in December 2013.
Yet despite evidence of the gifts from multiple sources, the PoE report said Washington had insufficient information to confirm Rodman had breached sanctions, though noting items he gifted were “likely to be considered luxury goods” according to Department of Commerce regulations.
The luxury goods list detailed in Supplement No. 1 to part 746 of the Export Administration Regulations of the U.S. Department of Commerce includes alcoholic beverages – and the PoE’s last two reports said Rodman had brought unspecified bottles of wine and five bottles of American vodka to North Korea.
According to the draft report seen by NK News, Washington told the panel “that appropriate measures were taken in response” to the case, though details of those measures remain unclear. A Department of Treasury spokesperson told NK News on Friday that as a rule, they are unable to comment on possible or pending investigations.
Following an NK News investigation in January 2014, the 2014 PoE report confirmed Paddy Power as having taken a bottle of whiskey, two whiskey glasses, a whiskey decanter and a Mulberry handbag as gifts into North Korea, seemingly in breach of the EU’s own luxury good list.
While the EU list bans the transfer of “high quality…spirits and spirituous beverages…handbags and similar articles, …[and] … lead crystal glassware,” the Irish government told the PoE that the total value of the goods transferred was low, that it was a “once-off” arrangement, and that it would not be pursuing a case against Paddy Power.
NK News attempted to reach Paddy Power for comment but did not receive a response by publication.
The PoE concluded by saying that “None of the parties involved intended to evade or violate the luxury goods ban.”
“This case illustrates the potential risk of travelers inadvertently violating the luxury goods embargo should they take gifts or other items into the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” it added.
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