4 Charged With Sending Circuit Boards to China

A federal grand jury indicted two Irvine businessmen and two Hong Kong residents Thursday on charges of illegally exporting computer equipment to China.

Louis Luk, 29, and Jonas Leung, 32, of Irvine were arrested a few hours after the indictment was issued in Los Angeles. James Ng and Lilly Wan of Hong Kong were still being sought.

The four are accused of illegally exporting at least $200,000 worth of printed circuit boards to China via Hong Kong. Luk and Leung allegedly purchased the equipment from various computer manufacturers through their Irvine company, McCall Resources Inc.

“We think it is a very significant case,” said Assistant U.S. Atty. William Fahey. He said that from July, 1983, through October, 1984, equipment was allegedly hand-carried out of the United States to Hong Kong or shipped by freight forwarders to Hong Kong and then shipped to China. Fahey said McCall Resources was set up only to export equipment and is no longer in business.

the indictment resulted from a two-year investigation by the U.S. Commerce Department. Evidence was collected after a search warrant was executed in October, 1984, Fahey said.

He said Leung and Luk are also charged with filing false documents to the Commerce Department and the U.S. Customs Service.

The documents included applications for export licenses that falsely stated that the ultimate destination of the computer equipment was Hong Kong. U.S. Magistrate Joseph Reichmann ordered Luk and Leung to be held at Terminal Island until a bail hearing on Friday. Reichmann approved the government’s request that a $500,000 bail be set for Luk and a $100,000 bail for Leung.

The maximum penalty for the conspiracy charge is a five-year prison sentence and a $10,000 fine. Each violation of the Export Administration Act related to the false document statements carries a five-year prison sentence and a $50,000 fine.