An Alaska man accused of laundering $1 billion held in South Korea on behalf Iranian nationals has had a forfeiture complaint filed against him by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), according to federal court documents released last Thursday.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska has filed a civil forfeiture complaint accusing Kenneth Zong, a U.S. citizen, of conspiring with three Iranian nationals to evade the prohibitions of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations (ITSR). The complaint alleges Zong engaged in “false, fictitious and fraudulent transactions” designed to illegally convert and remove Iranian-owned funds equivalent to approximately $1 billion from a Korean bank.