BEIJING (AP) — U.S. authorities have accused a Chinese company of helping North Korea evade financial sanctions and asked a court to seize $1.9 million they said was improperly moved through American financial institutions.

A complaint released Thursday in Washington accused Mingzheng International Trading Ltd. of conducting transactions for North Korea's state-owned Foreign Trade Bank, the country's main foreign-exchange bank. The bank is barred from the U.S. financial system under sanctions imposed in response to the North's nuclear weapons development.

The Department of Justice said the case would represent one of the largest U.S. seizures of North Korean funds.