The Justice Department said 53-year-old Chinese citizen, Fuyi “Frank” Sun, received a three-year prison sentence for violating IEEPA in relation to an illicit scheme to export high-grade carbon fiber to China without a license.
The U.S. Justice Department said 53-year-old Chinese citizen, Fuyi “Frank” Sun, received a three-year prison sentence on Aug. 31 for violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) in relation to an illicit scheme to export high-grade carbon fiber to China without a license.
The carbon fiber is sought after for aerospace and military applications.
Sun pleaded guilty on April 21.
“For nearly five years, Fuyi Sun tried to skirt U.S. export laws to obtain high-grade carbon fiber for the Chinese government. He spent thousands of dollars and took years of covert actions to avoid detection of his plan to purchase this highly protected material,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim in a statement. “Unbeknownst to Sun, however, he wasn’t making a deal with an unscrupulous company – he was dealing with undercover federal law enforcement agents, who foiled his clandestine plot.”
On April 11, 2016, Sun traveled from China to New York to buy carbon fiber from a fake company set up by the undercover agents. During meetings with the agents, Sun repeatedly suggested that the Chinese military was the ultimate end-user for the carbon fiber and claimed to have personal connections with China’s missile program.
On April 12, 2016, Sun agreed to buy two cases of carbon fiber from the agents with $25,000 in cash. He was arrested the next day.
Chinese national sentenced to three years in jail for illicit exports
