ACCESSION
ACCESSION NUMBER:235463 1ILE ID:ec-402 DATE:07/16/92 TITLE:DUTCH COMPANY INDICTED IN DIVERTING TECHNOLOGY TO IRAQ (07/16/92) TEXT:*92071602.eco DUTCH COMPANY INDICTED IN DIVERTING TECHNOLOGY TO IRAQ (Florida company indicted for sales to Iran) (500) By Bruce Odessey USIA Staff Writer Washington -- The Dutch company Delft Instruments N.V. and four Delft subsidiary employees have been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of selling night-vision devices to Iraq, delivering some equipment months after Iraq invaded Kuwait. Delft has already negotiated a settlement of the case, according to one published report. U.S. Attorney Jay Stephens said in announcing the indictment July 15 that Delft allegedly violated U.S. export controls by transferring thermal imaging systems in April and December 1990 and a night-sighting thermal camera to Iraq in December 1989. Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990. According to Stephens, Delft diverted to Iraq some components from Hughes Aircraft Company and Litton Systems for which it had U.S. State Department license approval for sales to the Dutch and Indian armies. "The indictment alleges that Delft unlawfully used certain licensed components in the manufacture of prototype thermal imaging systems for Iraq," Stephens said. The sales concerned in the indictment were allegedly part of a $35-million Delft scheme to supply thermal imaging systems to Iraq financed by the scandal-plagued Atlanta branch of Italy's Banca Nazionale Del Lavoro. The financing arrangements were subject to an earlier federal indictment in Georgia concerning more than $5,500 million in alleged unauthorized loans to Iraq. If convicted of violating two U.S. export control laws, the Arms Export Control Act and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, Delft could face fines up to $2.5 million and prohibition from further imports from the United States. The employees could face prison sentences. The July 16 Wall Street Journal reported that Delft has already negotiated a settlement with the U.S. attorney's office, agreeing to pay the $2.5 million fine; Delft fired the employees involved nearly a year ago. The State and Commerce departments halted all U.S. sales to Delft in 1991, but lifted some of the restrictions late in the year. The Journal reported Delft was negotiating with the two government agencies over the remaining embargo. Also July 15, a federal grand jury indicted the Miami company Aero Systems Incorporated and its subsidiaries in Florida, Hong Kong and Singapore for allegedly selling illegally to Iran $575,000 worth of military equipment and HAWK missile system components. U.S. Attorney Stephens said Aero Systems violated a State Department license that was approved for shipments of the goods to the armed forces of the Philippines and Singapore. In a related case, Aero Systems and its subsidiaries were indicted in September 1991 in an alleged scheme to sell F-4 military parts to Iran through a Japanese company, Japan Aviation Electronics Industry Limited. 1apan Aviation Electronics pleaded guilty in March, paying a $10-million criminal fine, the largest fine ever imposed in an export control case. The trial for Aero and its subsidiaries in that initial case is scheduled for November. NNNN .