Posted on September 22, 2010 by Anthony Lake

LAPD Officer Acquitted on Weapons Export Charges

It is a rather slow news day, so the Blog would like to take the opportunity to note that, earlier this month, a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California acquitted Los Angeles Police Department Officer Johnny Augustus Baltazar on charges of illegally exporting weapons and ammunition to the Central American nation of Belize, as reported in the L.A. Times. Baltazar was alleged to have purchased eight .40-caliber handguns, two 9-millimeter handguns and more than 1,500 rounds of ammunition from the LAPD police academy store for his Belize business, Elite Security. The guns and ammunition were shipped inside a safe, however the shipment was stopped by Belize officials who determined that the shipment was allegedly not in compliance with regulations banning the export of handguns larger than 9 mm. The officials sent the shipment back, and Baltazar planned to substitute smaller caliber guns for the larger caliber ones, however Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency discovered them and started an investigation.

Baltazar's counsel emphasized the confusing nature of export regulations to the jury at trial. He cited errors by the shipping company. He also argued that Baltazar was a law-abiding person merely looking to build a business in Belize for his retirement. A juror questioned following the verdict stated that he believed that Baltazar was merely following the advice of the shipping company. Baltazar remains an LAPD officer, however he has been on leave since the LAPD was notified of the investigation.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted on May 18, 2010 by Anthony Lake

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.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted on March 4, 2010 by Anthony Lake

British Multinational Defense Contractor BAE Systems Pleads Guilty to Foreign Corrupt Practices Violations and Other Offenses; Ordered to Pay $400 Million Fine

On Monday, BAE Systems PLC, a United Kingdom-based, multinational defense contractor, pled guilty in the U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia to charges of allegedly conspiring to defraud the United States by impairing and impeding its lawful functions, allegedly making false statements about its Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) compliance program, and allegedly violating the Arms Export Control Act (AECA) and International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), according to PR Newswire. U.S. District Judge John D. Bates ordered BAE Systems to pay a $400 million criminal fine. The fine is one of the largest ever imposed in a foreign corrupt practices/export control case. BAE Systems also agreed to retain an independent compliance monitor.

BAE Systems, the prime military contractor in the UK, was alleged to have represented to various U.S. government agencies from 2000 to 2002 that it would would create and implement policies and procedures to ensure its compliance with anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), but failed to implement the policies and procedures. BAE Systems was alleged to have saved approximately $200 million in failing to implement the policies and procedures.

The government also alleged that BAE Systems made payments to shell corporations and third party intermediaries which were not subject to the scrutiny required by the U.S. government. BAE Systems is alleged to have retained "marketing advisors" to secure defense contracts and to have allegedly concealed its relationship with these advisors from the U.S. government and made undisclosed payments to them, encouraging them to set up offshore shell corporations to receive payments. The company is alleged to have created one company in the British Virgin Islands in order to allegedly conceal its marketing advisor relationships, the identities of the advisors and how much they were paid; to help the advisors avoid tax liability, and  to obstruct investigating authorities and circumvent laws of countries which prohibit such relationships. BAE Systems is alleged to have made more than £135 million in payments through the shell entity.

BAE Systems was also alleged to have given benefits to an official of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in order to influence sales of fighter jets and other armaments to the country without properly reviewing or verifying the benefits pursuant to U.S. law. BAE Systems is alleged to have transferred millions through a bank account in Switzerland controlled by an intermediary in relation to the deal.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,