Massachusetts Man Sentenced for Illegally Exporting Defense Technical Data
Arif Ugur, a Cambridge, Massachusetts, resident, was sentenced to 33 months in prison and two years of supervised release for scheming to illegally export defense technical data to manufacturers in Turkey in violation of the Arms Export Control Act, DOJ announced Dec. 15. The technical data related to the "fraudulent manufacturing of parts and components used by the U.S. military" -- parts the Defense Department later found to be "substandard and unsuitable for use by the military."
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Ugur founded Anatolia Group Limited Partnership in 2015, using the company to acquire contracts to supply DOD with various parts meant for use by the U.S. military. Many of the contracts required that the parts be made in the U.S. Ugur said Anatolia complied with that requirement, but in fact Anatolia was a "front company with no manufacturing facilities whatsoever," DOJ said Dec. 15. Ugur contracted with a Turkish company to make the parts, then passed them to DOD "as if they had been manufactured by Anatolia in the United States," DOJ said, noting many of the parts were substandard.
Ugur shared technical specifications and access to DOD's online library of technical specifications and drawings with the overseas co-conspirators, some of whom were employees of the Turkish company. Many of the parts were listed on the International Traffic in Arms Regulations and U.S. Munitions List, meaning an export license is required to ship their technical data abroad. Ugur pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud, two counts of violating the Arms Export Control Act and one count of conspiring to violate the AECA, DOJ said.
"The defendant willfully defrauded the Department of Defense and gave access to controlled defense information to individuals in a foreign country for personal gain," Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen said. "This type of brazen disregard for our export control laws threatens our military readiness and technological advantage and will not be tolerated by this department."