Engineer Sentenced For Trying To Steal Navy Secrets
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
A Chinese-born engineer convicted of conspiring to pass U.S. military secrets to the People's Republic of China was sentenced to 24 years and five months in federal prison.
Chi Mak, 65, of Downey, Calif., was formerly employed by defense contractor Power Paragon. He was found guilty last May of trying to obtain U.S. Navy submarine technology and to illegally export that information to China.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, an investigation conducted by the FBI and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service found that co-conspirators from the PRC instructed Mak to obtain specific defense information about current and future naval warship systems. Mak was advised to attend seminars to collect sensitive, restricted information discussed there and to compile that information on CD-ROM discs.
The co-conspirators in the case all pleaded guilty following Chi Mak's conviction. Tai Mak and Chiu await sentencing in April and May, respectively. Li and Billy Mak were sentenced to time served and now await deportation to China.
Source: Information Week
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