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Updated January 17th, 2020 at 01:34 IST

US charges 5 Pakistani men for illegally transporting goods to country's nuclear program

They are accused of operating an international network of front companies to export U.S. origin products to Pakistan for use in that country’s nuclear program

Reported by: Varsha Chavan
US
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Five Pakistani businessmen have been indicted in the United States. They are accused of operating an international network of front companies to export U.S.-origin products to Pakistan for use in that country’s nuclear program, the Justice Department announced Wednesday. 

The five men identified as - Haji Wali Muhammad Sheikh, Ashraf Khan Muhammad, Ahmed Waheed, Muhammad Ahsan Wali and  Muhammad Kamran Wali - were charged by the US government for violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the Export Control Reform Act.

According to reports, the men transported the goods to Pakistan’s Advanced Engineering Research Organization and the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission without export licenses through a front company based in Rawalpindi in Pakistan., according to the indictment. It identified 38 illegal nuclear-related exports from 29 U.S. companies to Pakistan between September 2014 and October 2019. The accused who haven't been arrested were found guilty by a US jury last year with arrest warrants pending against them. 

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Conspiracy to violate U.S. export law

The men, who live in Pakistan, Canada, Hong Kong, and England, were charged in federal court in New Hampshire, where three U.S. companies are based, with conspiracy to violate U.S. export control laws. None of the U.S. companies was found to be complicit in unlawful exports. According to reports, the alleged behaviour of these five individuals presented more than a violation of US export laws, it posed a potential threat to the national security interests of the United States and to the delicate balance of power among nations within the region, a senior official said.

The two Pakistani entities – AERO and PAEC – are on the U.S. Commerce Department’s list of companies required to hold export licenses because their activities are deemed contrary to U.S. national security or foreign policy interests. The Justice Department stated that PAEC was added to the list in 1998 after Pakistan carried out a series of underground nuclear tests in response to Indian nuclear tests. AERO was included in 2014 after the U.S. found that it had used intermediaries and front companies to acquire goods for Pakistan’s cruise missile and strategic unmanned aerial vehicle programs, as per reports.

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(with inputs from agencies)

(image: AP)

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Published January 17th, 2020 at 01:34 IST

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