Massachusetts State Representative Visits INTERPOL Washington

On September 27, 2016, Massachusetts State Representative Harold P. Naughton, Jr., (D-MA), and Chairman of the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security, met with INTERPOL Washington leadership to discuss matters of mutual interest.

The visit included an overview of INTERPOL Washington operations as well as a discussion of how Massachusetts’ law enforcement agencies can benefit from federation. This process enables investigators to query both domestic and INTERPOL indices in a single search transaction, and to make real-time, concurrent determination of the domestic and/or international criminal or terrorist threat posed by persons of investigative interest. Federated searches can be conducted from both fixed and mobile platforms, including vehicle mounted and hand-held devices. Currently, 12 states and the District of Columbia have federated their search queries.

The decision to federate rests with individual states.  U.S. law enforcement agencies can gain more information about federation by contacting INTERPOL Washington’s Office of the Chief Information Officer at 202-616-9000 or on-line at Nlets at  http://www.nlets.org

Florida Woman Sentenced to Prison for Acting as an Illegal Agent of a Foreign Government and Conspiring to Commit Money Laundering

WASHINGTON – Amin Yu, 55, of Orlando, Florida, was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison for acting in the U.S. as an illegal agent of a foreign government without prior notification to the Attorney General and for conspiring to commit international money laundering.

Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin and U.S. Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III for the Middle District of Florida made the announcement after Yu was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roy B. Dalton, Jr.

According to the plea agreement, from at least 2002 to February 2014, at the direction of co-conspirators working for Harbin Engineering University (HEU, a PRC-controlled entity) in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Yu obtained systems and components for marine submersible vehicles from companies in the U.S. She then illegally exported those items to the PRC for use by her co-conspirators in the development of marine submersible vehicles including unmanned underwater vehicles, remotely operated vehicles and autonomous underwater vehicles for HEU and other state-controlled entities. Yu illegally exported items by failing to file Electronic Export Information (EEI), as required by U.S. law and by also filing false EEI. Yu completed and caused the completion of export-related documents in which she significantly undervalued the items that she had exported and provided false end user information for those items.

This case was investigated by the FBI, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the IRS Criminal Investigation Division, and the NCIS. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel C. Irick of the Middle District of Florida and Trial Attorneys David C. Recker and Thea D. R. Kendler of the National Security Division, Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.

ATF, Firearms Industry Offer Reward in Indianapolis Firearms Theft

INDIANAPOLIS – The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) – the trade association for the firearms industry – announced a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the theft of firearms from the Indy Trading Post, a federal firearms licensee located in Indianapolis.

ATF is offering a reward of up to $5,000, which will be matched by the NSSF for a total possible reward of $10,000.

At approximately 3:00 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2016, two individuals broke into the business, located at 2851 South Madison Avenue, by ramming a stolen vehicle through the side of the building.  These individuals then stole approximately 17 handguns and two long guns.  ATF is working with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department to investigate the incident.

Anyone having information about this burglary should contact ATF at 1-800-ATF-GUNS (800-283-4867) or Crime Stoppers at (317) 262-TIPS.  All calls will be kept confidential.  Anonymous tips may also be provided to ATF by using the ReportIt app available for both Apple and Android mobile devices.

This reward is part of a larger national cooperative initiative between the NSSF and ATF in which NSSF matches ATF rewards in cases involving the theft of firearms from federally licensed retailers.  ATF works closely with the members of the firearms industry to curb the criminal acquisition and misuse of firearms.

More information about ATF and its programs is available at www.atf.gov or visit ATF on Twitter or Facebook.