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A Singapore trading company and its 65-year-old Singaporean director have been blacklisted by the United States Treasury Department.

The firm, Asia Trading & Construction, was found by the Treasury to be a shell company that sold helicopters to an unidentified Latin American government on behalf of a state-owned Russian defence conglomerate.

Its director, Serena Ng Bee Lin, was similarly blacklisted for her leadership position in Asia Trading.

Asia Trading was incorporated in 2014 and is involved in the wholesale trade of a variety of goods, according to Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) records.

Its registered address is 20 Peck Seah Street and it was formerly known as Five Star Resort.

Supporting Russia's war

According to a Feb. 1 press release by the U.S. Treasury, the company was supposedly linked to a Russian sanctions evasion network led by arms dealer Igor Vladimirovich Zimenkov.

Zimenkov's network — which includes his son, Jonatan Zimenkov — was involved in cybersecurity and helicopter deals that supported Russia's war with Ukraine.

For helping to funnel money within the network, 22 individuals and entities were slapped with "full blocking sanctions".

This means that all property and interests owned by the sanctioned persons that are in the U.S., or in the possession or control of U.S. persons, are blocked and must be reported to the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.

All transactions by U.S. persons that involve the property or interests of the sanctioned persons are also prohibited unless exempt.

In response to Mothership's queries, a spokesperson from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said that it is aware of the situation.

"The Singapore government has consistently reminded Singaporeans and Singapore entities to familiarise themselves with sanctions imposed by foreign countries so as to fully evaluate and take into account the implications of these sanctions on their commercial activities," the spokesperson said.

Singapore enacted targeted sanctions against Russia in early 2022 following its invasion of Ukraine.

Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan explained that the sanctions restrict Russia's ability to wage war in Ukraine, and prevent the use of weapons that could harm or subjugate the Ukrainian people.

This was done because Singapore needed to stand up for its principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity for all nations.

Top image via Google Street View and Aami Shaw/Twitter