Hsien Tai Tsai, Conspiring to Violate U.S. Laws, Illinois 2016
A Taiwan businessman has been sentenced to 24 months in federal prison for conspiring to interfere with and obstruct U.S. regulations that seek to disrupt the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
According to court documents, 69-year-old Hsien Tai Tsai, also known as Alex Tsai, was associated with at least three companies based in Taiwan – Global Interface Company Inc., Trans Merits Co. Ltd., and Trans Multi Mechanics Co. Ltd. – that purchased and then exported, and attempted to purchase and then export, from the United States and other countries machinery used to fabricate metals and other materials with a high degree of precision.
On October 2014, Tsai pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate U.S. laws, admitting that he conspired with others to interfere with and obstruct U.S. regulations that seek to disrupt the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
In January 2009, under Executive Order 13382, which sanctions proliferators of weapons of mass destruction and their supporters, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Tsai, Global Interface and Trans Merits as proliferators of weapons of mass destruction, isolating them from the U.S. financial and commercial systems and prohibiting any person or company in the United States from knowingly engaging in any transaction or dealing with them.
“Aggressive enforcement of U.S. laws targeting those who supply goods, services, or other support to proliferators of weapons of mass destruction is vital to ensuring global safety,” stated U.S. Attorney Zachary T. Fardon, after the sentence was announced.
According to the indictment, Tsai was arrested on May 2013 in Tallinn, Estonia, and was later extradited to the United States, where he remains in federal custody.
“Hsien Tai Tsai violated a critical sanctions regime and undermined and interfered with U.S. efforts to disrupt North Korea's weapons of mass destruction and advanced weapons programs,” said Assistant Attorney General John P. Carlin.
On January 2009, the Treasury Department said that Tsai was designated because he provided, or attempted to provide, financial, technological, or other support for, or goods or services in support of, the Korea Mining Development Trading Corporation, which the Treasury Department has stated is North Korea’s premier arms dealer and main exporter of goods and equipment related to ballistic missiles and conventional weapons.
Key Facts
- State: Illinois
- Category: Weapons
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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