Singaporeans to Face Trial in D.C. for Exporting Military Antennas from U.S.
Two Singaporeans were extradited from Singapore to stand trial in Washington, D.C., in connection with an alleged fraud conspiracy involving the unlawful export of 55 military antennas from the U.S. to Singapore and Hong Kong, said the Bureau of Industry and Security.
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Hia Soo Gan Benson, aka "Benson Hia," and Lim Kow Seng, aka "Eric Lim," both citizens of Singapore, were arrested by Singaporean authorities Oct. 24, 2011, in connection with a U.S. request for extradition. Each faces one charge of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. by violating the Arms Export Control Act. If convicted, they each face a potential five years in prison.
A 2010 indictment in D.C. alleges that Hia and Seng conspired to cause 55 cavity-backed spiral antennas and biconical antennas to be illegally exported from a Massachusetts company to Singapore and Hong Kong without the required State Department license. Such military antennas are controlled for export as U.S. munitions and are used in airborne and shipboard environments, it said. Hia and Seng are alleged to have undervalued the antennas to circumvent U.S. regulations on the filing of shipper's export declarations to the U.S. government, and to have used false names and front companies to obtain the antennas illegally.