Yi-Lan Chen, a.k.a. Kevin Chen, of Taiwan, pleaded guilty on May 13, 2010, and was sentenced on August 27, 2010, to 42 months’ imprisonment for illegally exporting dual-use components to Iran. According to the complaint filed in the Southern District of Florida, customers affiliated with Iran’s missile program sent orders by e-mail to Chen. Chen then requested quotes from U.S. businesses and made arrangements for the sale or shipment of the goods to one of several freight forwarders in Hong Kong. These freight forwarders, which included Acteam Logistics Ltd. and Tex-Co Logistics Ltd., then sent the items on to Iran. Chen allegedly also used his own companies in Taiwan, In-Tech Company and Landstar Tech Co. Ltd., to facilitate several of the transactions.

Among Chen’s customers were buyers for Electro SANAM Industries, which serves as a front company for Aerospace Industries Organization (AIO) in Iran and has been linked to Tehran’s ballistic missile program. Another Iranian customer was the owner of Noavaran Sooyab Sanat, Co., a division of Jahad Engineering Research Center, which has been listed as an entity of concern by the British government for procurement related to weapons of mass destruction. Among the dual-use items that Chen allegedly shipped to Iran were P200 turbine engines, which can be used in unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as MIL-S-8516 sealing compound, glass-to-metal pin seals, and circular hermetic connectors.  Chen’s company, Landstar Tech, was sentenced to one year of corporate probation.