The State Department has debarred four persons for violating the Arms Export Control Act on Aug. 10. They were found guilty of unlawfully trafficking weapons with China.
Ye Sang “Ivy” Wang used her Navy position to purchase military equipment. Her husband, Shaohua “Eric” Wang, secretly sold them to Chinese buyers. The couple was originally from China and became naturalized U.S. citizens before violating the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). The ITAR implements the Arms Export Control Act (AECA) and is managed by the State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Control (DDTC).
Sailor’s Plea Deal
Ivy Wang, 37, was found guilty in the South District of California and sentenced to 30 months in prison and a $20,000 fine. According to a plea deal, her 39-year-old husband was given a 46-month prison term in February 2020. Their American Dreams will now be viewed from behind bars.Ivy served in the U.S. Navy as a Logistics Specialist First Class and was given the responsibility of purchasing military supplies for Naval Special Warfare units between 2015 and 2019, according to the Justice Department. Knowing very well his wife’s role, Eric asked her to buy military equipment that his Chinese clients wanted but didn’t have access to.
Eric gave Ivy a military equipment list and asked her to purchase them for him, according to the plea agreement and the government’s sentencing statement. Ivy knew they were export-controlled items and that Eric would sell them to China illegally.
Ivy agreed. She bought Eric the sensitive military equipment and gave him access to her military email account so he could place orders for the military gear from the defense contractors.
Ivy’s commander recognized the couple’s inappropriate behavior in March 2018, when Ivy was deployed in Iraq. At a Navy facility in San Diego, a box containing military supplies with Ivy’s name showed up one day. Ivy informed her commander that the package contained camping supplies and was intended for her husband.
Shady Business
Businessman Tuqiang “Tony” Xie, 60, from Irvine in Southern California, was found guilty of serving as a broker for defense articles.Xie’s crimes involved sensitive items on the U.S. Munitions List and the U.S. Munitions Import List that he traded through his California-based company Bio-Medical Optics LLC. The DOJ documented that Xie never held a license nor was registered with the State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, as required by federal law.
Furthermore, Xie hired a Chinese manufacturer to make the defense articles for his U.S. military client in 2014 and 2015, despite the arms embargo on China. Xie earned hundreds of thousands of dollars from this import.
Zhang Jian, the fourth individual, bought weapons in the United States and claimed to retain them in Arizona while planning to send them to China.