Trio Charged With Illegal Exports to Czechoslovakia

Two Los Angeles area men were indicted by a federal grand jury Thursday on charges that they illegally exported to Czechoslovakia “highly sophisticated technology” that could be used by that country’s military forces.

Indicted with Josef Kubicek, 50, of Palos Verdes Peninsula and Martin Stastny, 41, of San Pedro was Josef Chlumsky, director of a Czechoslovak trade organization known as Kovo.

Military Applications Noted

Asst. U.S. Atty. William Fahey, who presented the case to the grand jury, said the exported equipment could have enabled the Czechs to manufacture integrated computer systems with military applications.

The equipment, valued at about $600,000, was first shipped from the United States to Austria and then re-shipped to Czechoslovakia, according to the prosecutor.

Fahey said the indictment charging Kubicek, Stastny and Chlumsky with conspiracy, illegal export of high-technology equipment and making false statements was the result of a two-year investigation by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Office of Export Enforcement.

He said the indictment concluded one phase of an ongoing investigation into Kubicek, who operates a company called Exclusitrade in Redondo Beach.

False Statements Alleged

According to the indictment, Kubicek and Stastny filed false statements with the U.S. Customs Service and Department of Commerce to conceal the “true nature of the equipment and its real destination.”

“Because this highly sophisticated technology could be used to manufacture integrated computer systems with military applications, they knew the shipments would not be given approval by the U.S. Department of Commerce,” Fahey said.

If convicted, Kubicek faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison and a fine of more than $100,000. Stastny and Chlumsky, if found guilty, face similar fines and up to l5 years in prison.