United States Treasury has blacklisted an entity in Palau with two other entities in Macao and Hong Kong under the Global Magnisky Act.
The entity in Palau called Palau China Hung-Mun Association, a non-profit organization seeking to promote relations between Palau and China, is associated with Wan Kuok-koi, also known as “Broken-Tooth”, a man identified by United States as the leader of China’s 14K Triad, an organized crime group.
The three entities associated with Wan in Palau, Hong Kong and Cambodia have been sanctioned by the US Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFCA).
Mr. Wan Kuok-Koi has been in Palau a few times and in 2019, information about his life as a member of an organized crime in Macao came to light when he made a big splash in Macao papers promoting his businesses in Palau.
In April of 2019, President Remengesau Jr. issued an executive order preventing foreign nationals with criminal history from entering Palau.
The Executive Order directed to “detain and deport foreign nationals with proven criminal history or criminal affiliations” or individuals apprehended on suspicion of breaking national or state laws or laws of other countries.
The EO was signed a month after reports that former Macau gambling triad leader Wan Kuok-ko, aka “Broken Tooth” is planning to invest in a casino business in Palau.
Global Magnitsky Act is a US law that imposes sanctions or punish those it deems as human right offenders, and “corrupt actors”, freeze their assets and prohibit them from entering United States.