A Taiwanese man accused of trying to sell American military technology to Iran through Taiwan and other countries remains in custody in Baltimore, Maryland, as US pros-ecutors prepared to bring new charges against the man next week.
The man, named in court papers as Chu Loung-hsiang (
A US Justice Department official later told the Taipei Times that the Maryland District US attorney's office will present a further indictment against Chu next week containing additional charges, in addition to the original indictment returned last week. The official declined to say what the new charges would be.
Flight risk
He also said that the question of bail did not come up because Chu "has no ties in the United States," and because the US and Taiwan do not have an extradition treaty. As such, Chu would pose a flight risk and US authorities would not be sure whether Taiwan's government would agree to return him if he fled to Taiwan.
The lack of an extradition treaty would also seem to cloud the prospects for the return of Chu's alleged accomplice, named in court papers as Eric Chang (
Chang, 28, is a naturalized US citizen and a Taiwan resident. Chu is also a resident of Taiwan.
Chu's Washington lawyer, Plato Cacheris, who was hired by Chu's family in Taiwan several days ago, just returned from an overseas trip on Thursday and met Chu for the first time in court on Friday.
As in his first appearance, last Tuesday, Chu spoke only Mandarin and his words were translated by a State Department official. While Cacheris did not seek bail, he told the Taipei Times, "we're not contesting detention at this point. We are reserving it for a future point."
Chu, 39, was caught in a year-long US Customs Service sting operation after Chang allegedly contacted a Maryland company seeking to buy satellite space images of Tehran for sale to Iran.
Over the next year, according to a federal indictment returned last week, the two tried to purchase from Stellar International, an underground firm set up by Customs investigators, a number of items destined for Iran in violation of US law.
Arrest in Guam
Chu was arrested in February in Guam as he was about to board a plane for Taiwan with one of the items, cavity-backed spiral antennas, which are mounted on military aircraft to provide pilots with early warning that they have been detected by enemy radar or targeted by enemy fire. They are also used to locate enemy radar installations and radio communications.
In addition, Chu and Chang are accused of trying to buy early warning military radar equipment, night-vision goggles and other military technology for illegal export to Iran. They are charged with violations of the Arms Export Control Act and a 1995 Iran Embargo.
Neither Cacheris nor officials at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Washington could provide any information about Chu or his family in Taiwan.
While most details of Chu's and Chang's motives are still not public, the indictment accuses the two of a conspiracy to "enrich" themselves by "shipping aircraft, helicopter, and weapons systems parts to Iran through Taiwan and elsewhere."
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