Dutch company accused of covert military exports to Iran

An arrest warrant has been issued for Robert Kraaipoel, owner of Dutch aviation services company Aviation Services International BV, for exporting parachutes and aircraft parts to Iran in violation of a US embargo, US federal prosecutors said on Tuesday 18 September.

Authorities allege the accused bought the items from companies in Connecticut, Arizona, Florida, Kansas and New Hampshire, making false statements on export control documents. Apart from Kraaipoel, his company and two other companies have also been charged.

Kraaipoel is a Dutch citizen, and is believed to be living in The Netherlands. Dutch customs officials are also said to be investigating Kraaipoel''s business practices, US officials said. The other defendants are Dutch companies Delta Logistics LV and TPC BV, both owned by Kraaipoel''s son. The son has not been individually charged.

Last year, Aviation Services bought more than 290 items - including parachutes, aircraft parts, aircraft paints and industrial chemicals - from the United States, which it sent to Iran, the complaint says. US officials say that Dutch customs officials told them many of the American goods were sold to Iranian government agencies, procurement agencies or companies doing business in Iran.

Aviation Services and Kraaipoel allegedly used entities in the Netherlands, Cyprus and Dubai that Kraaipoel himself owned or controlled, to pose as end users for US goods that he sold to Iran.

Kraaipoel allegedly made false statements in November 2005 and January 2006, when he certified that US-origin aviation communications equipment with potential applications in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) was being sent to the Poland Border Control Agency. The equipment was actually sent to Iran. The complaint also details an attempted shipment to Iran in January of US aircraft parts, including airspeed indicators and navigation equipment.

Assistant US attorney general Kenneth Wainstein said that it is critical to keep America''s defence technology from falling into the hands of state sponsors of terror. The government is determined to prevent sensitive military technology from getting into the "wrong hands", said Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd.

Federal officials say Iran is aggressively seeking components from the retired US F-14 ''Tomcat'' fleet, so it can maintain its own F-14 fighter jets. But this complaint did not involve F-14 parts.

All exports to Iran of US-origin commodities are prohibited without express authorisation in the form of an export license from the US Treasury Department. It is also unlawful to ship US-origin products to a third country and then re-export them to Iran without the necessary authorisation.

These prohibitions have been in place since 1995. The penalty for violating trade embargoes on Iran is up to 20 years'' imprisonment, a $250,000 fine or both. Corporations can be fined up to $500,000. The maximum penalty for filing false documents is five years'' imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, or both.

Aviation Services bought the goods from Hamilton Sunstrand in Connecticut; Sun Aviation in Lawrence, Kansas; Honeywell in Phoenix, Arizona; DTC Inc in Nashua, New Hampshire; and Gables Engineering in Coral Gables, Florida. The American companies were not implicated in the complaint.