United States Attorney Alice H. Martin
Northern District of Alabama
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Jill Ellis
Thursday, March 29 , 2007
www.usdoj.gov/usao/ aln FAX: ( 205) 244-2171
ALABAMA DEFENSE CONTRACTOR AND ITS OWNER INDICTED
FOR ILLEGAL EXPORT OF MILITARY DEFENSE ARTICLES
BIRMINGHAM, AL - An Alabama company and its owner have been indicted by a Federal Grand Jury on charges of illegally exporting military defense technology without a license, fraud involving aircraft parts, and submitting false documents. The five-count indictment charges AXION CORPORATION and its owner ALEXANDER NOOREDIN LATIFI, 59, both of Huntsville, Alabama, and is announced today by Kenneth L. Wainstein, Assistant Attorney General for National Security, and Alice H. Martin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama.
"Keeping sensitive U.S. military technology from falling into the wrong hands is a top priority for the Justice Department," said Assistant Attorney General Wainstein. "This indictment and other recent illegal export prosecutions should serve as a warning to companies seeking to enhance their profits at the expense of America’s national security."
"No defense contractor can export an item on the United States Munitions List, to another country, without first obtaining a license from the Department of State. Critical technology, such as the bifilar weight assembly, will be protected through criminal law enforcement where violations are found," said Alice H. Martin, United States Attorney Northern District of Alabama.
According to the indictment, in September 2003 and continuing thereafter, Axion Corporation and Latifi knowingly and willfully exported defense articles, specifically technical drawings of the bifilar weight assembly for the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, to overseas purchasers without first obtaining a required license and authorization from the State Department.
The indictment also alleges that, on or about February 19, 2004, Axion Corporation and Latifi made a fraudulent representation to the U.S. Army concerning an aircraft part in connection with a military contract. Specifically, the defendants represented to the U.S. Army that certain parts were provided by Tungsten Products of Madison, Alabama, when that company was not the suppler of those parts.
Further, on or about January 2004, Axion Corporation and Latifi knowingly submitted a false document to the government in connection with a military contract. Specifically, the defendants submitted "First Article Test Reports" which falsely stated that Industrial Fabrications Co., Inc., had conducted testing, when the defendants knew that the test reports were false and the testing had not taken place before a specific date.
Counts four and five of the indictment seek forfeiture of any assets and property derived from the offenses alleged in the indictment, including real property at 317 Nick Fitchard Road, NW Huntsville, Alabama, where Axion Corporation is located, as well as $659,280 and all interest and proceeds derived therefrom.
The penalty for exporting defense articles without a license is not more than ten years imprisonment, a fine of not more than $1,000,000 or both, and a term of supervised release of not more than three years. The penalty for fraud is imprisonment of not more than fifteen years, a fine of not more than $500,000, or both, and a term of supervised release of not more than three years. The penalty for filing false documents is not more than five years imprisonment, a fine of $250,000, or both, and a term of not more than three years supervised release.
This investigation was conducted by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Office of Inspector General; the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS); Army Criminal Investigation Division; the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE); the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
"We understand the tremendous amount of taxpayer dollars that are spend in procuring defense articles in the Huntsville area. To better focus our investigative efforts, and improve communication among the various investigative agencies, we have recently established a Procurement Fraud Working Group in the Northern District of Alabama. Agencies have been invited to join our efforts, and the public should expect to see increased law enforcement efforts in this important area," said U. S. Attorney Alice H. Martin. "If any member of the public knows of fraud in the area of government procurement or illegal exportation of sensitive information we ask that they contact our office."
The prosecution is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys David H. Estes, Angela Redmond Debro, and James D. Ingram from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama, as well as Trial Attorney Mariclaire Rourk from the Counterespionage Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.
Members of the public are reminded that an indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government’s burden to prove a defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
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Huntsville defense contractor acquitted
BIRMINGHAM -- A federal judge Wednesday threw out all charges against a Huntsville defense contractor accused of illegally exporting military technology to China after hearing seven days of testimony in his trial.
The Huntsville Times reported on its Web site that U.S. District Judge Inge P. Johnson ruled prosecutors lacked enough evidence to convict Alexander Noorendin Latifi, 60, or his company, Axion Corp.
Latifi and Axion were indicted in March on six federal charges of fraud, submitting false statements to the government and exporting military technology to a foreign county without a license. The trial was held without a jury.
The government accused Latifi of exporting technical drawings of a part of a UH-60 Black Hawk to China without obtaining a license or authorization from the State Department.
The judge ruled the government didn't have a case, and defense lawyer Jim Barger said Latifi felt completely vindicated after living under a cloud for four years.
"The nature of the charges basically put Mr. Latifi out of business," he said. "Justice is sweet in the end."
Like a modern-day Job, Alex Latifi can only sift through the ashes of what was once a prosperous life, and curse those who he says have tormented him without provocation. The workshops of his Huntsville defense contracting firm, Axion Corp., are empty. His machine tools, humming with government contracts since 1984, are mothballed. Once lauded by defense procurement officers for going above and beyond contract specifications, Axion Corp. is now a silent hulk of sheet metal buildings in what was once a cotton field on Huntsville’s northeast side. Legal fees have drained Latifi’s bank account.
It all began to disappear—the $4 million in annual sales, the 60 employees—in 2003. That’s when the U.S. attorney’s office for the Northern District of Alabama showed up and accused Latifi, an Iranian-born U.S. citizen, of crimes that included violating the Arms Export Control Act. His main alleged offense: sending a schematic drawing of the Army’s Black Hawk utility helicopter to a prospective subcontractor in China. His main accuser: a disgruntled employee who began informing on him only after she had stolen thousands of dollars and was facing prosecution for forging checks.
After four years of investigation and two raids by federal agents, none of the charges against Axion or Latifi stuck. U.S. District Judge Inge Johnson said the main witness lacked credibility. The Black Hawk drawings Latifi was accused of sending to China weren’t marked as classified, and his lawyers argued they were readily available for viewing on the Internet. And the technology is hardly a secret to China, which already owns more than 20 of the freight and troop transporters made by Stratford, Conn.-based Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. In October, after a seven-day trial in U.S. District Court in Birmingham, the judge dismissed the case. Johnson ruled there was no way federal prosecutors from Alice Martin’s U.S. attorney’s office in Birmingham, were going to meet their burden of proof in the criminal trial.
http://www.al.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/news/120384...
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