Advertisement
California

CALIFORNIA BRIEFING / LOS ANGELES

By Dan Weikel
Share

Two Hacienda Heights businessmen appeared Wednesday in U.S. District Court on charges that they conspired to illegally export to the People’s Republic of China sophisticated cameras that have a wide variety of military and civilian applications.

Sam Ching Sheng Lee, 63, a native of China, and his nephew, Charles Yu Hsu Lee, 31, a native of Taiwan, were charged with felony counts of conspiracy and exporting without a license technology that is controlled by the government for national security reasons.

They face a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison if convicted.

The Lees, arrested Tuesday morning, are accused of ob- taining 10 thermal imaging cameras from U.S. suppliers from 2002 to 2007 and exporting them to China through their business, the Multi- million Business Associate Corp., based in Hacienda Heights.

Advertisement

Federal authorities said one recipient of the cameras worked for a Shanghai company that was developing infrared technology.

-- Dan Weikel

More to Read

CaliforniaWorld & Nation
Dan Weikel

Dan Weikel covered local aviation, the California high-speed rail project, Metrolink, the MTA and regional transportation issues for the Los Angeles Times before leaving in 2017. He started with the newsroom in 1989 and previously covered courts and transportation in Orange County, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach as well as substance abuse, environmental issues and law enforcement as a member of a project team. A native of San Diego, Weikel is a graduate of the UC Santa Barbara and the master’s program at the University of Missouri School of Journalism.

More From the Los Angeles Times

Advertisement