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Pakistani Man Sentenced to Prison in U.S. Export Violation Case

January 11, 2012

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On January 6, 2012, a U.S. district court in Maryland sentenced Nadeem Akhtar, 46, to 37 months in jail for exporting and attempting to export a variety of U.S. dual-use goods to the Pakistani nuclear program between 2005 and 2010. Akhtar, a citizen of Pakistan residing in Maryland, had faced up to five years in prison and fines of $250,000 for nine counts of export control violations, money laundering, and conspiracy related charges. Akhtar pled guilty in September 2011 for sending to the Chashma nuclear power plant and Space Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) in Pakistan goods purchased through his company, Computer Communication USA (CC-USA), such as calibration and switching equipment, resins for coolant water purification, surface refinishing abrasives, and radiation detection devices. These goods had applications in nuclear power and fuel reprocessing plants, the latter which Pakistan would use in its production of plutonium for nuclear weapons.

Akhtar duped seven U.S. companies into selling him the goods, which he illegally exported to Pakistan via transit through Dubai with the assistance of associates located in New York, Dubai, and Pakistan. The associate in Pakistan directed Akhtar’s procurement attempts at the behest of Pakistani government entities and paid him a commission for items successfully received. He claimed the end-users of the goods were trading companies located in Dubai. In many of the instances, better corporate vigilance and improved communication between the U.S. government and companies involved likely would have detected Akhtar’s attempts before they were successful.

Read ISIS’s case study on the case of Nadeem Akhtar here. Read the U.S. district court of Maryland press release here.

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