The US has offered a $5m bounty and filed new charges against a Chinese businessman it has accused of trying to sell ballistic missile technology to Iran, allegedly using shell companies to hide millions of dollars in transactions.
Li Fangwei and his LIMMT Economic and Trade Company have been on the US sanctions list since 2009 and 2006, respectively, for alleged business dealings with Iran.
The US attorney’s office in Manhattan announced new charges yesterday against Mr Li accusing him since the 2006 designation, which prohibited him from doing business with US companies, of using a “web” of shell companies to disguise 165 separate transactions totalling $8.5m.