(Reuters) A former engineer for defense contractors has been indicted on charges that he tried to send Iran secret details on the U.S. Air Force’s F-35 joint strike fighter program, the office of the U.S. Attorney for Connecticut said on Tuesday.
The accused man, Mozaffar Khazaee, a dual U.S. and Iranian citizen, was arrested on January 9 at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, after he flew from Indianapolis to Newark, with Tehran as his final destination, prosecutors said. . . . (read more)
Defense Contractor Tried to Smuggle F-35 Blueprints to Iran (ABC News)
An engineer for a major American defense contractor tried to smuggle thousands of secret documents, including blueprints, on America’s multi-billion-dollar F-35 stealth fighter to Iran in boxes labeled as “household goods,” U.S. prosecutors say.
Mozaffar Khazaee, a dual U.S.-Iranian citizen, was reportedly arrested late last week as he was attempting to travel to Germany and then on to Iran.
Weeks earlier, Khazaee had arranged for a shipping company to take boxes containing “sensitive technical manuals, specification sheets, and other proprietary material” related to the F-35 and its engines to a contact in Iran, according to an affidavit filed by a Special Agent of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.
The reams of documents were discovered in November when Customs officers inspected a truck shipment Khazaee had sent from Connecticut to California, which was intended to go on to Hamadan, Iran, the affidavit said.
The 44 boxes, which had been described to the shipping company as containing “books and college-related items, two suitcases, a vacuum cleaner and some other items,” actually held “thousands of pages contained in dozens of manuals/binders relating to the JSF [F-35 Joint Strike Fighter] program.”
Court documents describe Khazaee as having worked as an engineer for several defense contractors, leaving his most recent employer last August.
None of the contractors are identified in the court documents, but the latest employer, Company A, is described as a Connecticut-based contractor that produced the F-22 Raptor’s F-119 engine. . . . (read more)
Former defense contractor indicted in stolen F-35 documents case (Marine Times)
. . . . A naturalized American citizen since 1991, the Iranian-born Khazaee was identified in media reports as a former employee of Pratt & Whitney, the engine manufacturer for the F-35.
According to a US government affidavit, federal agents began investigating Khazaee in November when he attempted to send a shipment from Connecticut to the Iranian city of Hamadan.
When agents inspected the shipment, they found “numerous boxes of documents consisting of sensitive technical manuals, specification sheets, and other proprietary material for the F-35.
Overall, the shipment included thousands of pages of documents, including diagrams and blueprints of the high-tech fighter jet’s engine. Some of the information was marked as being ITAR- and export-controlled information.
Those documents came from three companies, according to the affidavit; although the government identifies them only as companies A, B and C, a spokesman for Pratt confirmed they are one of the firms involved. . .(read more)
DOJ Press Releases
FORMER CONNECTICUT RESIDENT INDICTED FOR
ATTEMPTING TO SHIP SENSITIVE MILITARY DOCUMENTS TO IRAN
(21 Jan 2014) Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that a federal grand jury sitting in Bridgeport returned an indictment today charging MOZAFFAR KHAZAEE, also known as “Arash Khazaie,” 59, formerly of Manchester, Conn., with two counts of interstate transportation of stolen property.
The indictment stems from KHAZAEE’s alleged attempt to ship to Iran proprietary material relating to military jet engines and the U.S. Air Force’s F35 Joint Strike Fighter program that he had illegally retained from defense contractors where he had been employed.
As alleged in court documents, federal law enforcement agents began investigating KHAZAEE in November 2013 when officers with U.S. Customs and Border Protection Service (“CBP”), assisted by Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”) special agents, inspected a shipment that KHAZAEE sent by truck from Connecticut to a freight forwarder located in Long Beach, Calif., which was intended for shipment from the U.S. to Iran.
The documentation for KHAZAEE’s shipment indicated that it contained household goods.
Upon inspecting the shipment, however, CBP officers and HSI personnel discovered that the content of the shipment primarily contained numerous boxes of documents consisting of sensitive technical manuals, specification sheets, and other proprietary material relating to the U.S. Air Force’s F35 Joint Strike Fighter program and military jet engines.
Upon further investigation, law enforcement learned that KHAZAEE holds Iranian and U.S. citizenship and, as recently as August 2013, worked as an engineer for defense contractors, including firms that are the actual owners of the technical and proprietary documents and materials in KHAZAEE’s shipment.
KHAZAEE, who became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1991 and holds a valid U.S. passport, recently moved from Connecticut to Indianapolis.
On January 9, 2014, KHAZAEE was arrested by HSI and FBI agents at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey after flying from Indianapolis to Newark, before he was able to board a connecting flight to Frankfurt, Germany. KHAZAEE’s ticketed destination was Tehran, Iran.
KHAZAEE is detained pending his transport to Connecticut. His arraignment is not yet scheduled.
The indictment charges KHAZAEE with two counts of transporting, transmitting and transferring in interstate commerce goods obtained by theft, conversion, or fraud. Each charge carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years and a fine of up to $250,000.
U.S. Attorney Daly stressed that an indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. Charges are only allegations and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
U.S. Attorney Daly stated that there is an ongoing investigation in this matter and encouraged anyone with information that may be relevant to that investigation to call HSI at 203-773-2155, or the FBI at 203-503-5000.
This matter is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations in New Haven and Los Angeles, the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service in New Haven, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Service in Los Angeles, the U.S. Air Force’s Office of Special Investigations in Los Angeles and Boston, and the Department of Commerce’s Boston Office of Export Enforcement.
U.S. Attorney Daly also commended the efforts of the many other agencies and offices that have been involved in this investigation, including the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Central District of California, the Southern District of Indiana and the District of New Jersey, as well as HSI, CBP, and FBI in New Jersey, and HSI, FBI and DCIS in Indianapolis.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Reynolds of the District of Connecticut and Trial Attorney Brian Fleming of the Justice Department’s Counterespionage Section (CES).
FORMER CONNECTICUT RESIDENT ARRESTED AFTER ATTEMPTING TO SHIP SENSITIVE MILITARY DOCUMENTS TO IRAN
As alleged in the criminal complaint, federal law enforcement agents began investigating KHAZAEE in November 2013 when officers with U.S. Customs and Border Protection Service (“CBP”), assisted by Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”) special agents, inspected a shipment that KHAZAEE sent by truck from Connecticut to a freight forwarder located in Long Beach, Calif., which was intended for shipment from the U.S. to Iran.
The documentation for KHAZAEE’s shipment indicated that it contained household goods.
Upon inspecting the shipment, however, CBP officers and HSI personnel discovered that the content of the shipment primarily contained numerous boxes of documents consisting of sensitive technical manuals, specification sheets, and other proprietary material relating to the U.S. Air Force’s F35 Joint Strike Fighter program and military jet engines.
Upon further investigation, law enforcement learned that KHAZAEE holds Iranian and U.S. citizenship and, as recently as August 2013, worked as an engineer for defense contractors, including firms that are the actual owners of the technical and proprietary documents and materials in KHAZAEE’s shipment.
KHAZAEE, who became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1991 and holds a valid U.S. passport, recently moved from Connecticut to Indianapolis.
He was arrested after flying from Indianapolis to Newark, before he was able to board a connecting flight to Frankfurt, Germany.
KHAZAEE’s ticketed destination was Tehran, Iran.
KHAZAEE appeared today before U.S. Magistrate Judge James B. Clark III in Newark and is detained pending his transport to Connecticut for further proceedings.
The complaint charges KHAZAEE with transporting, transmitting and transferring in interstate or foreign commerce goods obtained by theft, conversion, or fraud. The charge carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years and a fine of up to $250,000.
This matter is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations in New Haven and Los Angeles, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Service in Los Angeles, the U.S. Air Force’s Office of Special Investigations in Los Angeles and Boston, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with the critical assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Central District of California, Southern District of Indiana and the District of New Jersey, as well as HSI, CBP, and FBI in New Jersey, and HSI, FBI and DCIS in Indianapolis.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Reynolds of the District of Connecticut, Trial Attorney Brian Fleming of the Justice Department’s Counterespionage Section (CES), and Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Grigg of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.
