High-Tech Smuggling Ring Busted in California
Stanley Yi Zheng, a Chinese national, and two U.S. citizens, Matthew Kelly and Tommy Shad English, have been charged with conspiring to smuggle millions of dollars’ worth of export-controlled computer chips to China.
According to the charges, the three defendants allegedly sought millions of dollars’ worth of export-controlled computer chips from a California-based computer hardware company for illegal shipment to China through Thailand.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia announced the charges, stating that Zheng, Kelly, and English used the names of Thailand-based companies as the purported purchasers of the computer servers when in fact the co-conspirators intended for the U.S.-origin computer chips to be diverted to China.
In October 2023, English, purporting to act on behalf of a Thailand-based company, ordered 750 computer servers with export-controlled computer chips from a California-based computer hardware company.
The charges against Zheng, Kelly, and English include conspiracy to commit smuggling and export control violations. If convicted, they face serious consequences, including fines and imprisonment.
The case highlights the importance of enforcing export controls to safeguard America’s economic and national security. The FBI, Department of Defense Office of Inspector General’s Defense Criminal Investigative Service, and Homeland Security Investigations worked together to disrupt the smuggling scheme.
The charges are a reminder that the U.S. government takes export control violations seriously and will prosecute those who seek to profit by supplying sensitive technology to hostile nation states.
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Key Facts
- State: California
- Category: Cybercrime|Export Control Violations|White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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