2 Held in Bid to Sell Supercomputer to East Bloc
Two “high-tech bandits” from California were accused today of trying to sell a $6-million supercomputer for illegal shipment to the East Bloc, the U.S. Customs Service said.
Robert Wheeler of San Francisco and Nick Spiliotis of Long Beach, both 44, were arrested Tuesday as Customs agents seized a Control Data Corp. ETA 10 supercomputer in Charleston, S.C., said Bill Rosenblatt, Miami Customs Service chief.
The main-frame supercomputer was the most sophisticated computer anyone has ever tried to illegally export, Customs officials said. Spokesman Michael Sheehan called it the world’s second-most powerful supercomputer.
The 18,000-pound computer and spare parts were found on 21 pallets packed inside two 40-foot commercial cargo containers at the Port of Charleston, the agency said. They were bound for Bulgaria via France.
The investigation began in January with a tip from an informant who had been approached by the two men, who said they were interested in selling the ETA 10, Customs said.
Under the direction of Miami Customs agents, the informant contacted the men to say he wasn’t interested in the computer himself but had contacts in the East Bloc who were.
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