Electronics Distributor, Owner Admit Violating Export Control Act
Electronics distribution company Broad Tech System and its president and owner, Tao Jiang of Riverside, California, pleaded guilty Jan. 11 to participating in a conspiracy to illegally ship chemicals made or distributed by a Rhode Island-based company to a Chinese firm with ties to the Chinese military, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Rhode Island announced. Jiang and Broad Tech admitted to violating the Export Control Act and conspiring to commit money laundering.
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The company and its owner said that they worked with Bohr Winn-Shih, an engineer at Broad Tech, to order chemicals "Photoresist and HPRD (Developer)" from the Rhode Island manufacturer, and then submitted false information to CBP and the Commerce Department about the shipments. The intended recipient of the goods was a state-owned electronics manufacturer in Nanjing, China, that deals in the development of "core chips and key components in China's military strategic early warning systems, air defense systems, airborne fire control systems, manned space systems and other national large-scale projects," the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
CBP told Commerce of an intended shipment of 58 gallons of photoresist to the China-based firm in 2018. After the product was returned to the manufacturer, Jiang asked the Rhode Island-based company to make 94 gallons of photoresist, this time shipping it to a different Chinese company. The manufacturer, finding the request suspicious, reported this to Commerce, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. The ensuing inquiry discovered Jiang's and Broad Tech's efforts to hide the end user of the shipment and receipt of a $65,000 wire transfer for the 58 gallons of photoresist from the Nanjing-based company.