17 Corporate Crime Reporter 20(1), Monday, May 19, 2003

DEWEY BALLANTINE PAYS $13,750 TO SETTLE ALLEGATIONS THAT IT ENGAGED IN TRADE WITH NORTH KOREA

Dewey Ballantine paid $13,750 earlier this month to settle Treasury Department allegations that the law firm engaged in trade with North Korea.

The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) would say only that the law firm dealt in property in which North Korea had an interest in 1997.

But a source familiar with the case said that the law firm had a European bank as a client. Dewey Ballantine was assisting the bank in repackaging some debt "in which North Korea had an interest."

Over the course of seven years, the law firm was never able to resolve the OFAC allegations. The law firm sought an administrative hearing, but OFAC refused to grant it, according to this source. The law firm did not admit wrongdoing, but agreed to settled the case.

Dewey Ballantine refused to identify the bank client or to discuss the matter.