South Korean National Sentenced to 32 Months in Prison for Attempting to Export Helicopter Engines to China
A Federal Judge in New Haven, Connecticut recently imposed a 32 month prison sentence on Kwonhwan "Howard" Park, 36, a South Korean citizen who admitted to diverting Black Hawk helicopter engines to China. On November 9, 2004, Park pleaded guilty to violating the Arms Export Control Act, and conspiracy charges, in connection with his effort to obtain military engines for the Black Hawk helicopter manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft as well as other military items, and divert them to China.
As disclosed in court proceedings, Park was the subject of a two year investigation conducted by Special Agents of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), after he and his Malaysian company, SGS, attempted to purchase military helicopter engines from Helicopter Support International, a company affiliated with Sikorsky Aircraft and located in Stratford, Connecticut. The government alleged that during 2001, Park and others provided documents to the U.S. Department of State's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) asserting that the engines, worth in excess of $1,000,000 each, were destined either for the Malaysian Army or the Korean Army. Park and SGS even provided sworn end-user certificates, with signatures from purported Malaysian and Korean military officials, which attested that the engines were for use by the Malaysian military and the Korean Army.
A subsequent investigation revealed that the signatures were fraudulent. The investigation also found that two helicopter engines which were shipped to Malaysia were diverted to China. Park and his associates later attempted to obtain four additional engines for the S70 Sikorsky military helicopter. Acting on a suspicion, General Electric, the manufacturer of the engines, notified governments agents. Park later indicated that the four additional engines were destined for the South Korean Army, although an investigation confirmed that the South Korean Army had never ordered the engines.
Park was arrested in April 2004 at Dulles International Airport when he attempted to depart the U.S. on a plane bound for Beijing, China. An inspection of Park's luggage confirmed that he had in his checked bag and on his person a sophisticated night vision goggle system that was manufactured by a U.S. company that is controlled for export.
After completing his term of imprisonment, Park is subject to deportation to South Korea.
|posted by Douglas N. Jacobson| Permalink 
