Indictment Says Equipment Went to Bulgaria : 3 Accused of Smuggling Computers

A federal grand jury in San Diego has indicted three international traders--a Mexican doing business in National City, a German living in Canada and a Swiss national--on a charge of smuggling sophisticated computer equipment to Bulgaria.

The indictment, issued Friday, is part of a crackdown on the illegal export of weapons and high-technology equipment to the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and China that has resulted in at least seven convictions in Southland federal courts in the last three years.

All three defendants in the latest case are at large and believed to be outside the United States, according to Lynne Lasry, an assistant U.S. attorney in San Diego. Prosecutors will seek their extradition to the United States, though there is some question whether the defendants’ home countries will honor the requests.

Federal authorities are continuing their investigation of the alleged smuggling ring and additional charges are likely, Lasry said Monday.

Named in the one-count indictment are:

- Bruno Barbarits, 36, operator of a customs brokerage house in Zurich, Switzerland.

- Ruediger Martin Graaf, 50, a dual citizen of Germany and Canada who lives in Ontario, Canada.

- Keisuke Yamada, 47, a Mexican citizen and owner of Electro Design Systems in National City.

They are accused of exporting computer disc manufacturing and testing equipment from the United States to Bulgaria through Canada, West Germany and Switzerland. The equipment was on a list of sensitive equipment barred from export for national security reasons.

Under a Soviet five-year plan, Bulgaria was designated the primary producer of computer hardware for the Soviet Union and the entire Soviet Bloc, Lasry said. The equipment diverted by the accused smugglers could have both military and civilian applications, she said.

Another San Diego area man, William Newkirk, president of Kal Tek Labs Inc. of National City, pleaded guilty in 1984 to related charges of smuggling computer and electronics testing equipment to several Asian countries, including China. Newkirk, who is serving a two-year prison term, was named, but not charged, in the new indictment as an agent for Bulgaria.

The indictment says Barbarits purchased computer equipment for Bulgaria from Newkirk and Yamada, who would ship it under false documentation to Graaf. Graaf allegedly relayed the equipment to Barbarits.

Warrants were issued Friday for the three defendants and bond for each was set at $5 million.

However, extradition of the defendants is not a certainty, even if they can be apprehended, Lasry acknowledged.

Most extradition treaties exclude cases considered political by the nation from which the defendant’s transfer is sought, and charges such as those in the latest indictment are viewed by many governments as politically inspired, she said.