Note: The following text is a quote:
http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2008/February/08_nsd_083.html
Director of Singapore Firm Arraigned on Charges of Illegally Exporting Controlled Aircraft Components to Iran
BROOKLYN, NY – Benton J. Campbell, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Kenneth L. Wainstein, Assistant Attorney General for National Security, Darryl W. Jackson, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Enforcement, and Julie L. Myers, Assistant Secretary of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, announced that the director of a Singapore-based aviation company was arraigned today in federal court in Brooklyn on charges that she illegally exported controlled U.S. military aircraft components and shipped commercial aircraft components to Iran. Woodford pleaded not guilty and was ordered to be detained without bail by United States Magistrate Judge Viktor Pohorelsky.
Laura Wang-Woodford, a U.S. citizen who serves as the director of Monarch Aviation Pte, Ltd. (“Monarch”), a Singapore company that has imported and exported military and commercial aircraft components for more than 16 years, was arrested on December 23, 2007, at San Francisco International Airport after arriving on a flight from Hong Kong. Wang-Woodford and her husband Brian D. Woodford, a U.K. citizen who served as chairman and managing director of Monarch, were charged in a 20-count indictment returned in the Eastern District of New York on January 15, 2003. Brian Woodford remains a fugitive.
The indictment charges the defendants with one count of conspiring to export aircraft parts to Iran and 15 counts of exporting aircraft parts to Iran, in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA); one count of conspiring to export defense articles without a license and two counts of exporting and attempting to export defense articles without a license, in violation of the Arms Export Control Act (AECA) and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR); and one count of conspiring to launder the proceeds of the unlawful export of defense articles. If convicted of the charges, the defendants face a maximum sentence of ten years’ imprisonment for each count of violating IEEPA, ten years’ imprisonment for each count of violating AECA and ITAR, and 20 years’ imprisonment for conspiring to launder money.
According to the indictment, between January 1998 and February 2000, the defendants exported controlled U.S. commercial aircraft parts from the United States to Monarch in Singapore and then re-exported those items to a company in Tehran, Iran, without obtaining the required U.S. government licenses. As part of the charged conspiracy, the defendants falsely listed Monarch in Singapore as the ultimate recipient of the parts on export documents filed with the U.S. government. The aircraft parts allegedly exported to Iran include aircraft shields, shears, “o” rings, and switch assemblies.
The indictment further charges that the defendants arranged for the illegal export of U.S. military aircraft components, designed for use in Chinook military helicopters, to Monarch in Singapore without first obtaining the required license or written approval from the U.S. government. Specifically, the defendants caused a U.S. company to falsely identify these components in export documents filed with the U.S. government as civilian components that did not require export licenses.
The indictment also charges the defendants with conspiring to transmit funds from Singapore to Cincinnati, Ohio, with the intent to promote the illegal export scheme, in violation of federal money laundering statutes.
As set forth in the government’s detention letter filed today, at the time of her arrest in San Francisco, Wang-Woodford possessed catalogues from a Chinese company, the China National Precision Machinery Import and Export Corporation (“CPMIEC”), containing advertisements for military technology and weaponry. The products advertised include surface-to-air missile systems and rocket launchers. CPMIEC has been sanctioned by the United States Treasury Department, Office of Foreign Assets Control, as a specially designated Weapons of Mass Destruction proliferator. All United States persons and entities are prohibited from engaging in business with CPMIEC.
“We will not waver in our efforts to protect the public from the national security threat posed by those who would profit from the illegal export of U.S. military technology,” said United States Attorney Campbell. Mr. Campbell thanked the Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) and the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the agencies responsible for conducting the government’s investigation.
“We have a long memory when it comes to those accused of profiting from the trade of sensitive commercial and weapons technology to state sponsors of terror,” said Assistant Attorney General Wainstein. “This prosecution and other recent export cases should serve as warning to others who would jeopardize America’s security through illicit transfers of U.S. technology.”
“Enforcement of our export controls with respect to Iran remains an important priority of this Administration,” said Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Enforcement Jackson. “Monarch is a significant diverter of aviation components to Iran.”
“Transshipment and false labeling schemes like those charged in the indictment have the potential to harm our country,” said Assistant Secretary of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Myers. “Today’s action shows that U.S. law enforcement will relentlessly pursue those who hide behind an international corporate veneer to smuggle sensitive weapons and commercial technology, and we will bring them to justice.”
The government’s case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Daniel S. Silver and Cristina M. Posa.
The charges contained in the indictment are merely allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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08-083
UPDATE:
January 30, 2008
Note: The following text is a quote:
http://kansascity.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel08/kclicensefraud012808.htm
BOSNIAN NATIONAL PLEADS GUILTY TO CONSPIRACY
TO PROVIDE FRAUDULENT LICENSES
AT WEST PLAINS SCHOOL
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – John F. Wood, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Kansas City, Mo., man pleaded guilty in federal court today to participating in a conspiracy to provide fraudulent commercial driver’s licenses to large numbers of Somali and Bosnian nationals.
Adil Majlovic, 21, a citizen of Bosnia who resides in Kansas City, pleaded guilty before U.S. Chief Magistrate Judge James C. England this morning to the charge contained in a Sept. 20, 2007, federal indictment.
By pleading guilty today, Majlovic admitted that he was involved in a mail fraud conspiracy from April 1, 2003, to Feb. 6, 2006, that defrauded others by denying the public the right of honest services of contract employees of the state of Missouri. The conspiracy involved fraudulent testing for commercial driver’s licenses on the part of the South Central Career Center Truck Driver Training School (SCCC) in West Plains, Mo.
Majlovic assisted the conspiracy by traveling to West Plains in December 2005 and participating in a scheme by co-defendants Orbin Dale May, 64, of West Plains, and Ernest Arnel White, also known as Mustafa, 50, of Kansas City, to simulate a driving test in order for White to obtain a commercial driver’s license (CDL) by fraudulent means. May was employed at SCCC (at that time a division of the West Plains R-7 School District) to train truck drivers and administer CDL driving tests. White operated Muslim Brothers and Sisters (MBS), a trucking company that operated a truck driving training school in Kansas City, which directed individuals to SCCC in order to obtain a Missouri CDL.
Majlovic also attempted to arrange for White to train students that he directed to White’s school. Majlovic had reason to believe, based upon the circumstances, that the CDL driving tests these students would take would be improperly administered by May.
Majlovic is the seventh co-defendant to plead guilty to his role in the conspiracy.
White pleaded guilty on Dec. 19, 2007, to his role in the conspiracy. White admitted that he had an agreement with May that May would give incomplete or inadequate driving tests to MBS students, fraudulently certify that the students had legitimately passed the driving test, and mail the certifying documents to the Missouri Department of Revenue. May also provided students with a copy of the certifying document, which they could use to obtain the CDL from the Missouri Department of Revenue. White paid May $300 to $500 for each student that May passed in this way.
May pleaded guilty on Nov. 9, 2007, to his role in the conspiracy. May admitted that he gave incomplete or inadequate driving tests and fraudulently certified that applicants had legitimately passed the driving tests. During the course of the conspiracy and in furtherance of the conspiracy, May submitted fraudulent CDL forms, indicating that applicants had successfully completed the competency test, to the SCCC office, which then mailed them to the Missouri Department of Revenue. May would provide the applicant with a copy of the certifying document that could be used to obtain the CDL at a Missouri Department of Revenue office.
May also admitted that he received additional payment (above that which was required under law) to administer the tests, in order to ensure that applicants passed the CDL driving test.
Howard E. Schneider, 41, of Overland Park, Kan., pleaded guilty on Nov. 28, 2007, to his role in the conspiracy. Schneider is the owner of H.E. Schneider Trucking Company in Kansas City, Kan., and involved in the operation of Muslim Brothers and Sisters.
Schneider admitted that he assisted co-conspirators in directing individuals to SCCC in order to fraudulently obtain commercial driver’s licenses. Schneider also took the CDL driving test at SCCC on Jan. 24, 2005, and knew that the test was not legitimately administered.
Abdulfatah Osman Farah, 25, a citizen of Somalia living in Kansas City, pleaded guilty on Dec. 10, 2007, to his role in the conspiracy.
Farah admitted that he obtained a CDL after testing at SCCC on Dec. 28, 2004. According to the plea agreement, May administered the CDL driving test. While Farah took two of the three portions of the driving test, White drove the tractor trailer in order to assist Farah in successfully completing the last portion of the driving test. May then certified that Farah had passed his driving test, and sent a copy of the certifying document to the Missouri Department of Revenue.
Afterward, Farah assisted White in taking students to SCCC in order to obtain a CDL in the same way. On several occasions, Farah simulated a driving test with May’s assistance, in order to help those students pass the CDL test.
Ahmed Muhidin Sharif, 29, a citizen of Somalia living in Kansas City, Mo., pleaded guilty on Nov. 9, 2007, to his role in the conspiracy.
Sharif assisted White by transporting students from Muslim Brothers and Sisters truck driving school to SCCC, knowing that May would fraudulently administer the competency tests. Sharif made about 15 trips in which he transported 70 to 80 students of Somali descent to West Plains in order to fraudulently obtain CDLs. Sharif knew that the tests were being fraudulently administered by May, and observed May give incomplete or inadequate CDL driving tests to the students.
Abdiwahab Mohamud Mohamed, 38, a citizen of Somalia living in Minneapolis, Minn., pleaded guilty on Oct. 31, 2007, to his role in the conspiracy.
Mohamed, who had fraudulently obtained a CDL after purportedly testing at SCCC, directed students from the state of Minnesota to SCCC in order to obtain fraudulent CDLs. Mohamed was directed to White by an acquaintance in Minnesota who informed him that White’s school would only cost $800, as opposed to the $5,000 for a legitimate CDL school in Minnesota. White took Mohamed to SCCC, where he was tested by May. Mohamed, who had never driven a tractor trailer prior to traveling to West Plains, drove a tractor-trailer around the parking lot at SCCC for 10 minutes. Normally the CDL test takes two hours to complete.
A commercial driver’s license allows a person to operate heavy commercial trucks – such as 18-wheel tractors and trailers – and buses on the public highways. In order to obtain a CDL, a driver-applicant must first pass a written test. If the driver-applicant passes the written test, he is issued a temporary permit and must then take the practical “skills test” or “competency test” administered either by the Missouri State Highway Patrol or a third-party tester, such as SCCC. This second test requires the driver-applicant to physically demonstrate his knowledge and ability to inspect and safely drive a commercial vehicle. These tests are required and regulated by both federal and state laws.
Under federal statutes, each of the co-defendants could be subject to a sentence of up to five years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $250,000. Sentencing hearings will be scheduled after the completion of presentence investigations by the United States Probation Office.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Randall D. Eggert. It was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department, the Kansas City, Kan., Police Department, the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Overland Park, Kan., Police Department, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Missouri Department of Revenue, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, and the Springfield, Mo., Police Department.