UNDP North Korea set-up parallel bank and treasury accounts to avoid USA' Treasury's scrutiny

In mid May 2009, when a team of UNDP advisers arrived in North Korea to restart operations, despite the absence of a development programme and the endorsement of such programme from its Executive Board.

Since then UNDP has taken extensive care to transfer the North Korean Desk from New York to Beijing, under the leadership of Napoleon Navarro (former Desk Officer of North Korea 2002-2008), disguised as Deputy Country Director (3rd) of UNDP China.

In order to escape US Treasury's watchful eyes and possibly keep the operations away from potential leaks in New York or elsewhere, this time UNDP's North Korea desk has set up three different accounts in the Bank Of China which is also a host and correspondent of DPRK's Foreign Trade Bank. These accounts are being used as "back-up" for transfers as well as operational expenses for UNDP and their back-up operations in Beijing.

Directives from Headquarters have instructed that all accounts be set outside of ATLAS (UNDP's corporate financial software) in order to avoid others review, access and track UNDP's expenses in North Korea. Many of such expenses for North Korea - have been incurred so far under the Business Unit of UNDP China and its ATLAS accounts.

Meanwhile UNDP Programme Team has had two separate working dinners at Landmark Hotel in Beijing with Maurice Strong and Nay Htun of Peace University, to develop the details of a different approach to Energy Assistance the UNDP will be offering the North Koreans as of September 1st. This assistance will start with an "allege support for electricity grids in cities" and among the first projects is to provide ad-hock support for DPRK hospitals and other public facilities to obtain uninterrupted electricity supply.