US indicts ex-North Korean diplomat for conning American banks to smuggle goods | NK News
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September 21, 2026Sep 21, 2026

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US indicts ex-North Korean diplomat for conning American banks to smuggle goods

Ri Myong Ho faces 20 charges for alleged money laundering and other crimes while working at DPRK Embassy in Thailand

A former North Korean diplomat faces 20 criminal charges in the U.S. for money laundering and other crimes after he allegedly deceived American banks into processing financial transactions for the Kim regime, the Justice Department announced on Tuesday.

Ri Myong Ho has been indicted for his role in helping to smuggle goods into North Korea while serving as a diplomat at the DPRK Embassy in Thailand from Feb. 2015, the department said in a press release.

He allegedly used his position as the embassy’s third economic and commercial secretary to “negotiate contracts on behalf of a North Korean company