A federal judge in Washington D.C. has thrown out criminal charges against British American Tobacco following the company’s completion of a three-year compliance agreement related to alleged North Korea sanctions violations.
The Justice Department confirmed in court documents filed Monday that BAT had “fully complied” with terms established in their April 2023 deferred prosecution deal. As part of the resolution, the tobacco manufacturer paid roughly $630 million in penalties and forfeiture fees while strengthening its internal compliance systems.
This settlement marked the Justice Department’s most significant financial penalty ever imposed for breaking U.S. sanctions targeting North Korea’s government. BAT’s subsidiary operation, BAT Marketing Singapore, entered a guilty plea to conspiracy charges as part of the arrangement.
The company, whose cigarette portfolio features well-known brands like Dunhill, Lucky Strike and Pall Mall, has not yet issued a public response to the case dismissal.
Federal prosecutors alleged that BAT continued selling tobacco products to North Korea from 2007 through 2017, even after publicly claiming it had ended all business operations there. According to the Justice Department, BAT had transferred its North Korean operations to a Singapore-based third-party company but maintained tobacco sales through this intermediary.
U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell approved the government’s motion to dismiss the charges.
The United States maintains extensive economic sanctions against North Korea as part of efforts to limit funding sources for the country’s nuclear weapons and missile development programs.
