US winds up probe into NKorea-linked bank in Macau (AFP)

[Eugene]

US winds up probe into NKorea-linked bank in Macau

1 hour, 24 minutes ago

HONG KONG (AFP) - US officials said Monday they had wound up their
probe into a Macau bank accused of laundering millions of dollars of illicit
North Korean funds, raising expectations that sanctions placed on the
lender may soon be lifted.

Daniel Glaser, an assistant to the US
Treasury Department's deputy secretary, said a team of US officials had
met Macau financial authorities during their one-day visit and would begin
taking steps to resolve the issue.

Macau's government took control of Banco Delta Asia (BDA) in late 2005
after the Treasury slapped sanctions on the bank and put it on a list of
international money launderers.

-snip-

The talks follow a deal announced two weeks ago between the US, the
two Koreas, Japan and Russia on initial steps towards dismantling
Pyongyang's nuclear programme.

As part of the agreement, the US Treasury team probing BDA and other
banks believed to have links to North Korea said they would begin talks
that would lead to the lifting of sanctions.

-snip-

Full article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070226/pl_afp/nkoreanuclearweapons_070226145404