Singapore men jailed for plot to export military antennas
Lim Kow Seng, also known as Eric Lim, and Hia Soo Gan Benson also known as Benson Hia, were sentenced on Friday to 37 months and 34 months in prison, respectively. They pleaded guilty in June to conspiracy to defraud the US by dishonest means.
Two Singaporean men have been sentenced in federal court in Washington for their roles in plots to illegally export 55 military antennas from the United States to Singapore and Hong Kong.
Lim Kow Seng, also known as Eric Lim, and Hia Soo Gan Benson also known as Benson Hia, were sentenced on Friday to 37 months and 34 months in prison, respectively. They pleaded guilty in June to conspiracy to defraud the US by dishonest means.
Seng, 44, and Hia, 46, were arrested in Singapore in 2011 and extradited to the US.
According to court documents, the two conspired with others to defraud the US by illegally exporting 55 cavity-backed spiral antennas and biconical antennas from a Massachusetts company to Singapore and Hong Kong without the required State Department licence.
The antennas are controlled for export as US munitions and are used for airborne or shipboard direction finding systems or radar warning receiver applications. Some are also used in military aircraft.
Beginning in 2006, Seng and Hia conspired with Corezing International, a company based in Singapore, and others to export antennas from a Massachusetts firm.