A Chinese national was sentenced to three years and six months in a federal prison Wednesday for conspiring to illegally export maritime raiding craft and engines and information to China with false export information, the Department of Justice said in a press release.
Ge Songtao from Nanjing, China, pleaded guilty on Nov. 2, 2020, the press release said. He was the chairman of Shanghai Breeze Technology.
The court also ordered Court Songtao to “forfeit $114,834.27, the amount caused to be wired to a U.S. manufacturer to purchase the raiding craft and engines,” the press release said.
In 2018, Songtao wanted to figure out the supply source for the combat rubber raiding craft that has an engine unlike any technology made in China, the press release said. The engines can operate using gasoline, diesel or jet fuel and launch “from a submerged submarine or dropped into the ocean by an aircraft.” (RELATED: Chinese Military Forces US Warship Out Of South China Sea: REPORT)
Yang Yang, a co-defendant and one of Songtao’s U.S.-based employees tried to order seven of the crafts from an American manufacturer by incorrectly attributing the request to United Vision Limited in Hong Kong, instead of Shanghai Breeze Technology Co., which violated federal law, the press release said.
Just in: Chinese national sentenced to +3 years for trying to fraudulently export maritime raiding craft / engines to #China, per @TheJusticeDept
51yo Ge Songtao pleaded guilty in Nov 2020
2 co-defendants have also pleaded guilty pic.twitter.com/k1QE2VMkkk
— Jeff Seldin (@jseldin) July 16, 2021
Songtao organized the purchase of crafts and engines by arranging wire transfers to Belt Consulting Company Limited, which then wired $114,834.27 to the American manufacturer, the press release said. He planned for an employee to go to Hong Kong, receive the equipment and then ship it to mainland China, but they were arrested before anything was shipped overseas.
Yang pleaded guilty to the same two charges as Songtao in September and was sentenced to a time-served sentence or the equivalent of around 14 months of imprisonment in December. Another co-defendant Zheng Yan pleaded guilty to charges in August and sentenced to a time-served sentence or the equivalent of approximately 6 months of imprisonment and 11 months of home-detention in August.
The trial of co-defendant Fan Yang is set to begin on August 2.
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