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A former channel manager at Pokka International was sentenced to five week’s jail for selling beverages to companies despite knowing they would be exported to North Korea, according to CNA.

Illegal to sell to North Korea but still did so

59-year-old Phua Sze Hee, who's a Singapore citizen, pleaded guilty to four charges of violating the Regulation of Imports and Exports Regulations. An additional 24 charges have been taken into consideration for his jail term.

Phua sold almost S$1.3 million worth of Pokka products to North Korea, which include the Pokka Strawberry Milk and Pokka Premium Milk Coffee Regular. These sales were made to several companies with the knowledge that the beverages would be exported to North Korea.

Singapore had previously suspended trade relations with North Korea in November 2017, imposing a trade prohibition on all commercially traded goods from or to the country.

The court heard that Phua started working as a channel manager for Pokka in 2009 and that his monthly sales target set by the company was S$1.25 million.

According to the CNA, the total value of the products exported to North Korea was S$1,295,162.53. Phua did not earn any commission for the sales made but managed to meet his monthly sales target.

Was introduced to business partners

In 2014, Phua was introduced to a customer, Zheng Shi Qiang, who was then a director of various companies such as Baron & Baron and Tan Quang Singapore, according to The Straits Times (ST). Zheng introduced Phua to another man known only as "Mr Kim" who was an ambassador at the North Korean embassy in Singapore.

A chain of commercial relations then began where Zheng would purchase Pokka products from Phua. "Mr Kim" would also, on occasion, liaise with Phua for the beverages sold to Zheng.

After Mr Kim’s death in 2015, Zheng then introduced Phua to another business partner only known as "Mr Mun", who also worked at the North Korean embassy.

Phua discovered from Zheng that the Pokka products that he sold to the latter’s companies were meant to be sold in North Korea. Regardless, he continued the sales of Pokka beverages to the various firms between Nov. 29, 2017 and Sep. 25, 2018.

ST reported that Phua was also involved in similar offences that include Baron & Baron and two other companies, 123 Duty Free and A-Linkz Marketing. The court documents did not mention if the directors of the other companies were facing charges.

Pokka: Phua acted "in contradiction" to company policy

Pokka has since released a statement with regard to the sentencing.

In response to queries from Mothership on Dec. 14, the company confirmed that it has not been charged with any offences, and is committed to making sure that it abides by all national laws and United Nation sanctions, such as having zero dealings with North Korea.

They said:

Pokka has a strict management policy not to trade with distributors that export to North Korea directly or indirectly.

Furthermore, Pokka would immediately suspend business with customers, in and outside Singapore, that are suspected of trading in North Korea.

The individual convicted is a former employee of Pokka who acted in contradiction of our stated management policy not to trade with distributors that export to North Korea.

Once we became aware that charges had been brought against the individual, we acted quickly to terminate his employment.

We expect all Pokka employees to abide by our management policies and to act lawfully and ethically in all business activities.

“Stress and guilt”

In mitigation, Phua’s defence lawyer said that his client suffered from “stress and guilt” due to the proceedings, and was fully cooperative with the authorities.

Phua also reportedly suffered a heart attack in early 2022 and was laid off by Pokka. The lawyer added that Phua’s parents and wife were suffering from cancer, and said that Phua wished to pay what he owes before moving on with life.

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Top images via Facebook/Pokka & Getty/NurPhoto