Taiwanese men charged with money laundering, arms exporting Money
laundering and attempting to export prohibited arms have been added to
charges against two Taiwanese businessmen already charged with conspiring
to smuggle arms to Iran, U.S. Attorney Thomas DiBiagio said Thursday.
En-Wei Eric Chang, a naturalized U.S. citizen, and David Chu were charged
with trying to buy early warning radar, Cobra attack helicopters and U.S.
spy satellite photos for Iran in violation of U.S. embargoes against that
country by a U.S. Grand Jury on March 5. Chu was arrested in Guam on Feb.
22 and ordered detained by the federal district court in Maryland on March
14. Chang remains a fugitive and is believe to be in Taiwan. Both
defendants are residents of Taiwan. If convicted, each defendant faces a
maximum sentence of 55 years in prison. Officials said the indictment
resulted from a yearlong arms-smuggling investigation that grew out of a
new program created by U.S. officials after Sept. 11 encouraging American
sellers of sensitive military equipment to report suspicious inquiries and
sales. Authorities said the men came to their attention after one contacted
a Maryland company about buying satellite images of Tehran. Federal agents
set up a fictitious business in Maryland, which Chang contacted by e-mail
and asked to buy the latest military night-vision equipment, military
helicopters and helicopter parts and special antennae used by pilots to
detect enemy radar, authorities alleged.
