The U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday that three individuals have been charged with violating U.S. sanctions on North Korea, including a North Korean man connected to the killing of Kim Jong-un's half brother.

The North Korean man, Ri Jong-chol, was previously arrested in connection with the killing of North Korean leader Kim’s half brother Kim Jong-nam.

According to the Washington Post, charging papers filed in federal court in Washington accuse Ri and his daughter, Ri Yu-gyong, of conspiring with a Malaysian, Gan Chee Lim, to set up front companies that made banned dollar transactions through the United States to purchase commodities on behalf of North Korean customers.

A Justice Department official said that violating North Korea sanctions benefits the regime and allows funds to trickle into the country.

The Washington Post said that according to an FBI agent who wrote in an affidavit, Ri Jong-chol was a suspect in the nerve-agent death of Kim Jong-nam, who was attacked in February 2017 at Kuala Lumpur airport in Malaysia. 

​U.N. investigators have reported that Ri was a North Korean diplomat and his daughter often served as his translator. He was initially detained by Malaysian authorities in connection with Kim Jong-nam’s death but was later expelled from the country.