5 Spy Suspects Are Indicted For Conspiracy
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SANTA ANA, CALIF. — Five members of a family accused of scheming to send sensitive information about Navy warships to China were indicted Wednesday on new conspiracy charges, prosecutors said.
The indictment, handed down by a federal grand jury, added counts of conspiracy to export American defense articles to China, possession of property in aid of a foreign government, and making false statements to federal investigators to existing charges.
Named in the supplemental indictment were Chi Mak, an American citizen who worked for Anaheim defense contractor Power Paragon; his wife, Rebecca Laiwah Chiu; his brother, Tai Mak; Tai Mak’s wife, Fuk Heung Li, and their son, Billy Yui Mak.
Mr. Li, 49, and her 26-year-old son were already facing charges of making false statements and acting as agents of a foreign government, namely China, without prior notification to the U.S. attorney general.
Chi Mak, 66, Tai Wang Mak, 57, and Rebecca Laiwah Chiu, 62, were previously charged with one count of failing to register as a foreign agent.
The government claims that Chi Mak passed information about American naval technology from his employer to his brother and that his nephew, Billy Mak, then helped encrypt the files onto CD-ROM computer disk. That disk was found hidden in the luggage of Tai Mak and his wife after they were arrested in October 2005 at Los Angeles International Airport as they prepared to travel to Hong Kong and Guangzhou, China, authorities said.