Singaporeans Plead Guilty to Illegal Military Equipment Export
Following an investigation by ICE and Homeland Security Investigations (HIS), two Singaporean nationals on June 26 pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the Arms Export Control Act in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The men, Hia Soo Gan Benson and Lim Kow Seng, illegally exported 55 military antennas from the U.S. to Singapore and Hong Kong through a Massachusetts company.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
The men, allegedly using fake names, exported the cavity-backed spiral and biconical antennas without the required State Department license. Benson and Seng undervalued the antennas on the filing of export declarations in order to bypass U.S. regulations, according to the Department of Justice (here). Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 20. Each faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a fine of $250,000 and a 3-year term of supervised release.
Singapore-based Corezing International was also charged in the District Court for conspiracy to export the antennas. The Department of Justice, in a press release, said Corezing has also been charged with the export of 6,000 radio frequency modules from the U.S. to Iran, via Singapore. The modules were later found in Improvised Explosive Devices in Iraq, according to the Department of Justice.