Chinese nationals guilty of illicit U.S. exports

Chinese nationals guilty of illicit U.S. exports    After a five-week trial, a federal jury in Massachusetts on Monday found two Chinese nationals guilty of illegally conspiring to violate U.S. export laws and illegally exporting electronic equipment from the United States to China.
   According to the U.S. Justice Department, several Chinese military entities were among those receiving the exported equipment.
   The jury also convicted a Waltham, Mass., corporation owned by one of the defendants that procured the equipment from U.S. suppliers and then exported the goods to China, via Hong Kong. The exported equipment is used in electronic warfare, military radar, fire control, military guidance and control equipment, and satellite communications, including global positioning systems, the Justice Department said.
   Zhen Zhou Wu, also known as Alex Wu; Yufeng Wei, also known as Annie Wei; and Chitron Electronics (Chitron-US) made the illicit exports on 'numerous occasions' from 2004 to 2007, and conspired to violate U.S. export laws over a 10-year period. Wu and Wei were also both convicted of filing false shipping documents with the Commerce Department. In addition, Wei was convicted of immigration fraud for presenting a U.S. permanent resident card, which she knew had been procured by making false and fraudulent statements to immigration officials, to enter the United States.
   The Justice Department said Wu founded and controlled Chitron, including its headquarters in Shenzhen, China, and its U.S. office in Massachusetts. While Wu resided in China, Wei served as the manager of the U.S. office.
   Wu and Wei both face up to 20 years in prison to be followed by three years supervised release and a $1 million fine. After serving their sentence, both will face deportation to China.
   Chitron-US faces up to a $1 million fine for each count in the indictment charging them with illegal export of U.S. Munitions List items and $500,000 for each count in the indictment charging them with illegal export of Commerce controlled electronics.
   The U.S. government also indicted Shenzhen Chitron Electronics Co. Ltd. (Citron-Shenzhen), the Chinese company owned by Wu that received the U.S. electronics and delivered the parts to Chinese end users, for these same crimes. The court has entered a contempt order against Chitron-Shenzhen for refusing to appear for trial and fined the company $1.9 million.
   Co-defendant Bo Li, also known as Eric Lee, previously pled guilty to making false statements on shipping documents, and faces five years in prison to be followed by three years supervised release and a $1 million fine. Sentencing is scheduled for July 22 in Boston.
   Several federal agencies in the Boston area worked together to investigate the case, including the Commerce Department's Office of Export Enforcement, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, FBI and Defense Criminal Investigative Service.
   'Today's convictions represented an outstanding collaboration investigation and prosecution to bring to justice those who flout our export control laws and endanger our national security,' said John McKenna, special agent in charge at the Office of Export Enforcement in Boston.