Chinese Man Pleads Guilty to Attempting to Export Weapons-Grade Carbon Fiber
A Chinese national pleaded guilty to attempting to export five tons of weapons-grade carbon fiber to China, a plot discovered through undercover work by U.S. agents, the Department of Justice announced May 30. Lisong Ma, 34, faces up to 20 years in prison, forfeiture and a $1 million fine. In February, Ma emailed an undercover agent and indicated he was interested in acquiring several types of high-grade carbon fiber, then attempted to negotiate the purchase of five tons of carbon fiber, the DOJ said in a statement. Such fiber is under Commerce Department jurisdiction; its two main applications are in specialized technology and in general engineering and transportation. The material sought by Ma is used in military aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles.
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Undercover agents discovered Ma -- who used the name “Ma Li” online -- was communicating from China using internet protocol log-in information. After a video teleconference with undercover agents on March 12, which was covertly recorded, Ma met with the agents in the U.S. on March 27. Ma requested a sample of carbon fiber, saying it was easier and safer to ship, commenting “There is a greater chance that the authorities will arrest you if you get a third party involved. That is why it’s better to go directly from the U.S. to China,” according to the DOJ. That meeting was also secretly recorded by the undercover agents. Ma eventually decided to ship a sample of weapons-grade, Toray-type T-800 carbon fiber. He paid the agents, put the fiber into a plain brown box, writing on the shipping forms that it contained “clothing.” The package was then transported to a courier service to be shipped to China, but intercepted by agents before it was exported. Ma was arrested shortly thereafter, at the Los Angeles International Airport on his way to Shanghai. He was removed to custody in Brooklyn, where he pleaded guilty at the federal courthouse on May 30.
The government’s investigation is ongoing, said U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Loretta Lynch, adding that the U.S. will use “every available technique, including covert cyber operations, to maintain the superiority of our nation’s armed forces.”