Firm Selling to South Africa Is Raided by FBI

More than three-dozen agents of the FBI and U.S. Customs Service on Saturday entered and searched the office of a Costa Mesa firm suspected of selling legally procured U.S. military flight manuals to the government of South Africa in violation of U.S. government sanctions.

Using a search warrant, the agents forcibly entered and searched the offices of Newport Aeronautical Sales in Costa Mesa and removed large amounts of records, according to Nadja Posey, a principal of the firm.

At the same time, other agents entered and search the residence of the other principal of the firm, George M. Posey III, Nadja’s son, who was away at the time.

Federal agents at both scenes and at bureau headquarters in Los Angeles declined to say why they were searching the two locations. However, government sources in Los Angeles said the FBI has scheduled a press conference in Washington today to announce the purpose of the investigation.

Nadja Posey said the firm was accused of selling military flight manuals to the government of South Africa. She said that George Posey, a former air traffic controller, was honeymooning with his wife in Kenya in 1983 or 1984 when he was approached by representatives of the South African government to sell the manuals.

“They wanted to fight communism,” she said of the South Africans.

Some of the sales, she said, were indirect.

“We sell to Israel and Israel sells to them (the South Africans),” she said. “We’re not supposed to sell directly” to the South Africans.

Sanctions Tightened

According to J. Reed Kramer of Africa News, a research organization that monitors trade to South Africa, sales of goods with military application to that country were first limited by Congress in 1963, and the sanctions were tightened again in 1977.

According to an Oct. 15, 1984, article in the Wall Street Journal, George Posey successfully sued the U.S. Navy to compel it to sell to his firm non-classified, military-equipment data, which the firm in turn sells to contractors and governments.

He told the newspaper that “we make thousands of requests a year” to the Defense Department, mostly on behalf of small U.S. firms that wanted to bid on government contracts.

Costa Mesa neighbors said the Poseys lived quietly on the street and appeared to be doing well financially.

“He seems to be making it,” said Del Haxel, a next-door neighbor, noting that the couple had two Mercedes-Benz autos, a van and a boat in Newport Harbor.

“He’s a real quiet, mellow family man,” said another neighbor, who asked not to be identified. Other neighbors said that Posey’s mother was a frequent visitor to the home.

Another neighbor said that more than a dozen men , some dressed in jump suits and jackets identifying them as FBI agents, arrived at the residence at about 5 p.m.in a dark blue van and at least half a dozen unmarked cars. They entered the home by removing a screen and opening a window next to the front door, neighbors said.

The family had been seen leaving in their van at about 3 p.m., neighbors said.

At 7 p.m. they were still inside, plainly visible through the open front door and lighted windows. Agents inspected the interior wearing white gloves and using flashlights, frequently taking photographs.

Nadja Posey, who had been present during the search at the offices at 1011 Brioso Drive in Costa Mesa, went to her son’s house at about 10 p.m. In an interview on the doorstep of the home, she said her son’s family had returned from Santa Barbara while the agents were still there, and that they were “in shock.”

Posey said the firm, which deals only in written material, had been in business for 30 years and had never been in trouble with the government before. Company officials never sold material to Soviet Bloc nations, she said. From time to time, she said, they had contacted the FBI to determine whether they should sell to individuals or governments that approached them.

In one case where a questionable individual had ordered material, Posey said, the FBI agent said: “Ship it! We’ll catch him on the other end.”