Singapore man denies part in tech smuggling
However, in an interview, Ho claimed that he was innocent of all charges.
Overnight, two men were arrested by Customs Service officials in Baltimore, Maryland and accused of scheming to smuggle two units of KIV-7HS, which are devices used to encrypt classified and sensitive national security data transmissions.
"The technology that these individuals were attempting to export to China is among the most sensitive items on the US ammunitions list," said Allan Doody, the US Customs Service special agent in charge. Doody said sale of the technology must be approved by the National Security Agency, the Associated Press reported yesterday.
Customs agents arrested Eugene Hsu of Blue Springs, Missouri and David Yang of Temple City, California. The maximum sentence for smuggling sensitive technology is 10 years in prison and a US$1 million fine for each violation, AP said.
According to a federal affidavit, Ho is affiliated to Singapore-based Wei Soon Loong Pte Ltd, the company which intended to buy the encryption technology.
But Ho claims he was unaware that he was in breach. "The products were for my friend in Hong Kong," he said, declining to reveal his identity. --Fran Foo and Nawaz Marican, ZDNet Asia