Massachusetts Defendants Convicted for Shipping Electronics Equipment to China's Military
Yesterday, after a five week trial, a jury in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts found Zhen Zhou Wu, a/k/a Alex Wu; Yufeng Wei, a/k/a Annie Wei; and Chitron Electronics, Inc., a corporation based in Shenzhen, China, with an office in Walthan, Massachusetts, guilty of conspiring to violate U.S. export laws and illegally exporting electronic equipment from the United States to the Peoples' Republic of China, according to a press release by the Boston Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
From 2004 to 2007, Chitron purchased equipment used in electronic warfare; military radar, guidance and control equipment; satellite communications, including global positioning systems; and fire control and exported the equipment to China through Hong Kong. The equipment is primarily used in military phased array radar, electronic warfare, military guidance systems, and military satellite communications. The defendants sent the equipment to Chinese military entities and research institutes, including China Electronics Technology Group Corporation. The equipment was shipped without export licenses from the Department of Commerce, in violation of the U.S. arms embargo against China which has been in place since 1990. The press release notes that the equipment could make a significant contribution to weapons systems and fighting capabilities of adversaries of the U.S.
Source: chinalawandpolicy.com/page/2/
Wu and Wei were also convicted of filing false shipping documents with the U.S. Department of Commerce, and Wei was convicted of immigration fraud for using a U.S. Permanent Resident Card which she allegedly knew had been procured by making false and fraudulent statements to immigration officials in order to enter the U.S. A co-defendant, Bo Li, a/k/a Eric Lee, previously pled guilty to making false statements on shipping documents.
