My Threatcon Column: Semiconductors: A Key Battleground Between The East And The West

My Threatcon column was published on Counterterrorism magazine’s website. 

You can read the column below: 

Semiconductors: A Key Battleground Between the East and the West

By Paul Davis

It has been said that American companies and the U.S. Government spend millions of dollars on technological research and development. And the Chinese and the Russians spend thousands of dollars stealing our R&D through espionage.

Appearing on CBS’s 60 Minutes on April 21st, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo (seen in the below photo) stated that semiconductors have become a key battleground between the U.S. and our adversaries, notably Russia and China.

Noting that semiconductors are imperative for nearly every type of technology, and although American technological companies design the world's most advanced chips, none are manufactured in the U.S. Nearly all are manufactured in Taiwan, which possess a national security threat.

"We allowed manufacturing in this country to wither on the vine in search of cheaper labor in Asia, cheaper capital in Asia, and here we are," Raimonda told 60 Minutes correspondent Leslie Stahl. "We just pursued profit over national security."

Raimondo stated in a 2022 congressional hearing that Russia had begun using semiconductors from dishwashers and refrigerators for its military equipment used in the invasion of Ukraine. Raimondo stated that the Russians are still working their way around the semiconductor issue.

"It's absolutely the case that our export controls have hurt their ability to conduct the war, made it harder," Raimondo said. "And we are enforcing this every minute of every day, doing everything we can.”

The U.S. issued export controls to prevent American technology from being used in China in October of 2022. The restrictions concerned advanced semiconductors and chip-manufacturing equipment.

"We want to trade with China on the vast majority of goods and services. But on those technologies that affect our national security, no," Raimondo said.

While high-end microchips are used in some consumer products, they're also used in nuclear weapons and surveillance systems.

"We know they want these chips and our sophisticated technology to advance their military," Raimondo said. "We have the most sophisticated semiconductors in the world. China doesn't," she said. "We've out-innovated China."

As 90 percent of the semiconductors are manufactured in Taiwan, the Chinese threat to invade Taiwan would mean the U.S. would no longer have access to the chips manufactured there.

"That's a problem," Raimondo said. "It's a risk. It makes us vulnerable. China wakes up every day figuring out how to get around our regulations. We've got to wake up every day that much more relentless and aggressive."

Four days after Raimonda’s appearance on 60 Minutes, a federal indictment was unsealed charging two Chinese nationals, Han Li, also known as Anson Li, 44, and Lin Chen, 64, with crimes related to a conspiracy to illegally export U.S. technology. The technology includes a machine manufactured by a California-based company that is used to process silicon wafer microchips in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and Export Administration Regulations (EAR).

“As alleged, the defendants sought to evade export controls to obtain U.S. semiconductor manufacturing technology for a prohibited Chinese company,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “The Justice Department is committed to enforcing export controls and holding accountable those who seek to illicitly procure U.S.-developed technologies that put our national security at risk.”

Larissa L. Knapp, the Executive Assistant Director of the FBI’s National Security Branch, added, “This indictment puts an end to Ms. Chen’s alleged involvement in a scheme to illegally export U.S. technology to China. “The U.S. does not tolerate illegally exporting our advanced technology, and any attempt to circumvent U.S. laws and regulations will have consequences. The FBI and its partners will continue to seek justice in this matter.”

According to the indictment, between at least May 2015 and August 2018, Li and Chen conspired to evade the export restrictions imposed by the Department of Commerce on CGTC through the use of intermediaries to conceal CGTC’s involvement with the transactions. 

Specifically, the defendants sought to illegally obtain a DTX-150 Automatic Diamond Scriber Breaker machine from Dynatex International, a Santa Rosa, California, company. The machine is used to cut thin semiconductors used in electronics, also known as silicon wafers, and under Department of Commerce regulations, requires a license and authorization to export to CGTC. 

The defendants sought to acquire the machine for CGTC through an intermediary company called Jiangsu Hantang International (JHI), a proxy they fraudulently represented as the purchaser and end user. To avoid detection, Li and Chen instructed Dynatex International to ensure that the export information associated with the sale did not list CGTC as the ultimate consignee of the shipment.

According to the Justice Department, Li and Chen are both charged with the following offenses, and if convicted, face maximum penalties as indicated: Conspiracy to violate IEEPA, up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine; false electronic export information activities, up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine; smuggling, up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine; and IEEPA violations, up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Chen was arrested in Chicago. Li is believed to be in China.

And this past January, a businessman was arrested for scheming to illegally export semiconductors and other controlled technology to Russia.

According to the U.S. Justice Department, the defendant allegedly used a network of businesses in China and other Countries to Illegally transfer hundreds of thousands of semiconductors to sanctioned business with ties to Russian military and Russian intelligence agencies.

Ilya Kahn, 66, a citizen of the United States, Israel and Russia, and resident of Brooklyn, New York, and Los Angeles, California, was arrested in Los Angeles for his alleged involvement in a long-term scheme to secure and unlawfully export sensitive technology from the United States for the benefit of a Russian business that was sanctioned by the U.S. government following Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The business’ clients include elements of the Russian military and the Federal Security Service (FSB), the main successor agency to the Soviet Union’s KGB.

According to court documents, Kahn is charged by criminal complaint with conspiracy to violate the Export Control Reform Act (ECRA).

“Mr. Kahn stands accused of repeatedly exporting sensitive technology to Russia before, during, and after Russia launched its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine,” said Assistant Attorney General Olsen. “Violations of U.S. sanctions and export control laws that aid Russia and other hostile powers endanger our nation’s security and will be met with the full force of the Justice Department.”

Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement Matthew S. Axelrod of the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) also weighed in, “This arrest reflects our continued aggressive enforcement of export control violations involving the Russian military and the Federal Security Service. stopping the flow of semiconductors and sensitive technologies to those aiding Russia’s unjust war in Ukraine is a critical priority for BIS and our Disruptive Technology Strike Force partners.”

If convicted, Kahn faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for conspiracy to violate the ECRA.

The FBI and Department of Commerce’s BIS New York Field Office are investigating the case. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California provided significant assistance.

Paul Davis’ Threatcon column covers crime, espionage and terrorism.

Cleanup On Kensington Avenue

Broad & Liberty ran my piece today on the cleanup in Kensington. You can read the piece via the below link or the below text:

 Paul Davis: Cleanup on Kensington Avenue (broadandliberty.com)

As I’ve mentioned here previously, I have a friend who is a retired Philadelphia detective who worked the streets of Kensington for a good part of his career.

The detective took me on a couple of “ride-alongs” through Kensington’s open-air drug market and the sad drug user’s street scene a while back. I recall seeing the stooped, staggering, and squatting drug addicts inhabiting the sidewalk amidst trash and garbage.

Photos and stories of the Kensington open-air drug market and drug-addicted street people have been featured prominently in the press worldwide, and even Mexico pointed a disapproving finger at Philadelphia. I spent time in Mexico when I was in the Navy, and I saw impoverished neighborhoods and indigent people there, so for Mexico to offer criticism of our city is telling.      

I reached out to the former detective and asked for his take on the city government’s encampment closure on May 8th that took apart the street squatter’s tents and other makeshift dwellings on Kensington Avenue. The city workers picked up trash, garbage, discarded needles and scrubbed the streets and sidewalks. 

“The Kensington streets have been an eyesore, a public health issue and a national disgrace, so this kind of action was overdue and totally necessary,” the retired detective told me. “And I’m glad that the city approached the cleanup not as a police action, but as a humanitarian effort, using the city’s social services and the sanitation crews.

“The drug addicts are lost souls due to their addiction, and although I think the police should crackdown on the street gang drug dealers, the addicts should be treated as victims in need.”

I agreed. Damn the drug dealers, pity the drug users.

The City of Philadelphia put out a press release on the day of the encampment closure.

“Today, the City of Philadelphia completed a month-long encampment resolution process in Kensington on the 3000-3100 blocks of Kensington Avenue. A total of 59 people accepted housing and services through the 34-day process, including nineteen who came in today,” the press release stated. “There will continue to be outreach and engagement teams working on a daily basis to connect individuals to housing and treatment throughout the community. This resolution was part of the City’s continuing efforts in combating the overdose crisis in Philadelphia.”

The press release also stated that Mayor Parker praised the work of every City worker and agency involved in the effort. Noting that encampment resolutions were not new in Philadelphia, the city government stated that there has long been addressing encampments that threaten communities’ public health and safety. As of May 8th, the city has engaged in more than 25 encampment resolutions. Ten such actions have previously taken place in Kensington.

“We’re proud of all of the City Departments that worked together to resolve the encampment on two blocks in Kensington that were creating a public safety and health threat to the neighborhood,” Adam Geer, the Chief Public Safety Director, said. “Throughout the process, no one was arrested, and 59 people came off the streets and into care. That’s in line with Mayor Parker’s vision for the restoration of Kensington and any neighborhood where people are suffering and in need.”

The city government stated that since Thursday, April 4, city employees from the Office of Homeless Services, Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual Disability Services in partnership with neighborhood-based nonprofits and social services staff have been working to connect people to treatment, shelter and medical care.

The city government added that it did not require anyone to accept treatment or housing, and it was strictly voluntary. Their housing assistance included offers of low barrier shelter, recovery focused shelter, safe havens, and respite. Four people connected to drug and alcohol services.

The city government added that they were able to care for 1,242 people suffering from wounds even if they did not accept other services. Wounds cared for ranged from minor cuts to serious necrotic wounds and 88 patients were seen during extended evening outreach from April 9 to May 7, twelve of whom were new patients seen for the first time during the extended outreach.

The city government stated that outreach teams have been engaging people daily, providing services, offering resources since the winter months and will continue to do so. And for the first time, the city government piloted an extended outreach effort that started on April 9th and included interagency outreach teams to engage from 4 to 8 p.m. three days a week in addition to their regularly scheduled outreach efforts – 32 of our placements came directly from that effort.

“Our outreach teams are Philadelphia’s unsung heroes, and they all put their heart and soul into every engagement,” Noelle Foizen, the Overdose Response Unit (ORU) Director, said. “Teams work tirelessly to support each person including addressing anything that could be a barrier to placement such as accessibility, mobility, pets, couples, etc. and work hard to find the right resource in challenging situations where at times they are threatened and harassed. They are brave and strong and represent the best of us and Mayor Parker’s vision to connect people to long term care, treatment and housing opportunities.”

The retired detective, who has witnessed the highs and lows of Kensington over the years, told me that he has high hopes for the neighborhood. 

“We should all remember that Kensington is not only the home of criminal gangs selling dope and the drug-addicted street people. There are also good people suffering who live in residential homes in proximity to the open-air drug market,” he said.

“I pray that this action is not just a Band-Aid, and that the area won’t sink back to its previous hellhole. This has to be an ongoing effort. I pray that the city can eradicate once and for all Kensington’s drug traffickers and the poor people who suffer and die from the criminal’s greed and the inhuman consequences of addictive drugs.” 

Paul Davis, a Philadelphia writer and frequent contributor to Broad + Liberty, also contributes to Counterterrorism magazine and writes the “On Crime” column for the Washington Times. He can be reached at pauldavisoncrime.com.

In Retrospect, McNamara Mismanaged The Vietnam War: A Look Back At The Vietnam War And Former Defense Secretary McNamara

I’m proud of my service in the Vietnam War, although I played but a minor role in the conflict.

I served as a teenage sailor on the USS Kitty Hawk as the aircraft carrier launched combat sorties from “Yankee Station” in the gulf of Tonkin off the coast of North Vietnam in 1970-1971. The Kitty Hawk also operated off South Vietnam and made a port of call to Da Nang in South Vietnam. 

As I noted in a previous post, I’ve long been interested in the Vietnam War, and I’ve read nearly every book - history, memoir, and novel - about the war. I’ve also watched the films, although I’ve often been disappointed by them. 

And as a writer, I've interviewed many veterans of the war, including aircraft carrier pilots, Army helicopter pilots, Navy SEALs, Green Berets, Army and Marine infantry grunts, Defense Department officials, CIA officers and journalists who covered the war.

So, due to my keen interest in the war, I’ve been watching The Sympathizer on HBO’s MAX channel. The series is based on Viet Thanh Nguyen’s 2015 novel, which is part spy thriller/part satire. The novel's narrator is a conflicted South Vietnamese Army captain, Communist sympathizer and Viet Cong spy. 

A young college student who was not yet born during the Vietnam War contacted me and said she was fascinated by Vietnam and was also watching HBO’s The Sympathizer. She wrote that she came upon my post on the series and my noting the similarities to a real-life spy in Vietnam.

The student has been doing a deep dive into the history of the conflict and she said she recently read former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara’s In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam. She asked what I thought of the book.

I replied that I thought McNamara’s book was a weepy apology about his gross mismanagement of the war. 

I wrote a piece about the awful book for the Philadelphia Daily News back in 1995.

You can read the piece below:

And you can read my post on The Sympathizer and the real-life Vietnamese spy Pham Xuan An (seen in the above photo) via the below link:   

Paul Davis On Crime: HBO's 'The Sympathizer' And The Real Vietnam Spy. 

Mother's Day: Another Philadelphia First

A Look Back At South Philly's Oregon Avenue

I wrote about South Philly's Oregon Avenue for Philadelphia Weekly back in 1994. 

You can read the piece above and below (click on to enlarge). 

My Crime Fiction: 'The Count And The Cook'

The below short story first appeared in American Crime Magazine in 2018: 

The Count and the Cook

 By Paul Davis

I carry my father’s Scot-Welch name and his blood proudly. I’m proud of my Italian blood as well.

I'm half-Italian – Sicilian, in fact. My mother’s maiden name was Guardino, and her parents came over to America from Sicily in the 1930s.  

I was reminded of this side of the family when I was contacted by a cousin that I remember only as a baby when I was a teenager. My cousin, Mike Guardino, read my newspaper crime columns online and sent me an email message.  

Like me, my cousin had served in the U.S. Navy. We emailed each other for a while and exchanged photos. I have little memory of him, but I recall clearly his father, my Uncle Sal, who was my mother’s brother. 

My uncle used to visit my house in the 1960s when I was a teenager. I recall a wiry guy of average height, with a rugged face and a strong voice. He and my father would sit at the kitchen table, drink beer and argue about World War II.  

My father had served in the U.S. Navy in the Pacific as a chief petty officer and Underwater Demolition Team (UDT) frogman, and my uncle served in the U.S. Army in Europe as a rifleman. The two would share their war experiences and rib each other. Often the exchanges would get heated, but the nights always ended on a friendly note.  

My father died of cancer in 1976 and my uncle died of heart failure in 1988.

Mike emailed me and suggested we meet in person. He lived in South Jersey, not far from my South Philly home, so we met at Russo's bar in South Philly. Mike knew the owner and we were served great Italian sausage sandwiches and red wine.  

Mike said he felt like he knew me, as he was a regular reader of my crime column in the local newspaper. He also recalled his father speaking lovingly about his beautiful sister Claire, my mother. 

Originally from South Philadelphia, my cousin moved to South Jersey after getting out of the Navy. He told me that he was a New Jersey state trooper, having followed in the footsteps of his father, who had been a Philadelphia police officer.   

Like our late fathers, we swapped stories about our time in the military. I served on an aircraft carrier during the Vietnam War and afterwards on a Navy harbor tugboat at the nuclear submarine base in Holy Loch, Scotland. My cousin told me he served more than a decade later on a Navy Destroyer in the Mediterranean. I also discovered that like me, my cousin was an amateur boxer while in the Navy.   

We spoke eventually of Sicily, which we both visited while in the Navy. We both have fond memories of our time in Sicily. My cousin also told me of the time he visited Sicily as a young boy with his mother and father and his father’s friend and family.  

He could not recall the name of the town, which was near Palermo, nor could he remember the name of the seaside resort where they spent a wonderful week. But he did recall that the fine vacation was marred somewhat by an altercation with a powerful local man known as “The Count.”  

The Russo and Guardino families had a great first day at the resort. They eat fabulous Sicilian food, drank wine, basked in the warm sun, and swam in the ocean and the pool. 

Also at the resort was a large party of local men and their wives. The leader of this group was a man in his late 30s that everyone called “The Count.” He was darkly handsome, athletically fit and possessed a regal bearing. He gave all of the instructions to the resort staff and did most of the talking among the men. 

Mike Guardino, all of 10-years-old, first understood the expression “looking down one’s nose at someone,” as the man called the Count did indeed rear his head back and look down his nose at people.  

The man, Luigi Di Salvo, who was called Count Luigi, was the center of attention that first day, showing his prowess as a diver and swimmer as he leapt from the diving board and dove into the pool. He also showed his prowess as a fencer, as the resort had set up an area near the pool where Di Salvo and a friend matched fencing swords. Di Salvo won the match and his group of friends all applauded.   

At dinner that first night, Sal Guardino and his wife and small child sat with his friend, Angelo Russo, known as “Ange,” and his wife and young son. Russo owned and operated a small bar and grill in South Philadelphia. Russo, who came from a poor family, was proud of his success as a cook and bar owner.  

Russo was a big and heavy man with a large belly from eating his own food, and huge muscular arms and legs from the physical work he performed in the bar and grill.  

It was Russo’s idea that he and his good friend Sal Guardino visit the island where their two families had come from originally. The two men had visited the island once before, as they were both veterans of the Allied invasion of Sicily in World War II. Russo had been Guardino’s sergeant and as the two men both hailed from South Philly, they became good friends. 

Russo, thrilled to have returned to Sicily, ordered a local wine and gave a toast in Sicilian. 

At a table nearby, Di Salvo sat with his party. He heard the toast, and he called over the resort’s manager. Loudly in Sicilian, he upbraided the manager for allowing "fat, loud and ignorant American tourists" to sit near his table. The manager apologized and said he would arrange more appropriate sitting in the future.  

Young Mike Guardino did not understand what was said but he saw Russo’s face turn dark red and saw his powerful, big hands grip and twist his napkin. Sal Guardino, who didn’t understand Sicilian, didn’t know what was said, but he too saw Russo’s anger.  

Russo rose out of his chair and walked up to Di Salvo and shot him an angry look. 

“Meet me on the beach – now!” Russo said to Di Salvo in Sicilian. 

Di Salvo got up from his chair, slowly and disdainfully. He waved his arm, bidding Russo to go first. Sal Guardino told the wives and children to stay at the table and he would find out was happening.  

On the beach, Russo told Di Salvo that he heard his remark, and if his wife and family understood Sicilian they would have been insulted and humiliated. He then would have to do something.  

Di Salvo, surrounded by three men, laughed and said in perfect English, “Do what exactly?” 

Guardino stepped behind Russo and Di Salvo’s men looked at each other and backed up a bit. 

Mike Guardino had broken free from his mother’s grip and ran to the beach after his father. He watched the men face off against each other.  

“This conversation is over. I have nothing more to say to someone like you,” Di Salvo said, looking down his nose at Russo. He then simply walked away, his three men in tow. 

The manager ran up to Russo and Guardino and he looked as if he were going to cry. 

He pleaded with Russo to not make a scene. Russo countered by saying that the man had insulted him, his family and friends. The manager apologized for Count Luigi and said the resort was large enough to accommodate both parties - separately, but equal in service.  

The manager put his arm around Russo and said in a low voice that Count Luigi was not truly a count, but he had come home from the university showing airs. He was, however, truly the son of an important man in Palermo - "a Man of Honor." 

“Cosa Nostra?” Guardino, the South Philly cop, asked. “We got those guys where we come from as well.”  

The manager again pleaded for peace.  

“OK,” Russo said. “I can see that this guy is an athlete and I’m an old, fat guy now. But in my day, before the war, I was a professional boxer, and I can still throw a good combo. You tell the Count that.” 

The manger did not know that a “combo” was a combination of left and right punches, but he understood the idea. And he had no intention of telling Di Silva anything of the sort.  

But one of Di Silva’s men was standing nearby and he heard every word.                  

The next day Russo was getting drinks for his group at the poolside bar when one of Di Salvo’s men sided up to him.  

“The Count wishes to speak to you,” he said, pointing towards Di Salvo at a nearby table.  

“I’ll be right there,” Russo replied.  

Russo dropped the drinks off to his family and walked over to Di Salvo. Di Salvo rose and looked Russo up and down disdainfully.   

“I heard you threatened me with your boxing skills,” Di Salvo said. “Well, as it happens, boxing is among my skills as well. I boxed at university. If you were not a fat, old man, I would challenge you to a boxing match.”  

“Challenge accepted,” Russo said flatly. “I’ll take you in the first.” 

Di Salvo looked confused until one of his men explained that Russo meant that he would end the match in the first round in his favor. Di Salvo smiled and said they would meet on the beach that night. Lights and a boxing ring would be set up. He would make all of the arrangements with the resort manager. 

Later, as Russo nursed a drink with Guardino, the manager came up to him and asked if he was insane. 

“The Count is a world-class athlete, and you are old! The Count’s father, Don Antonio, is here,” the manager said, pointing surreptitiously to an elderly man sitting by himself at a table with a big man standing nearby. 

“Make the arrangements he ordered,” Russo said. “The fight is on.”  

The manager stormed off waving his arms and muttering. Russo walked back to his room. Guardino walked over to Don Antonio’s table. The big man moved in front of the table. 

"Get out of the way," Guardino told the man. 

The man at the table barked an order in Sicilian and the big man moved. 

Guardino sat down and faced the Sicilian Cosa Nostra organized crime boss. Guardino pulled out his wallet and slapped his police badge on the table.  

“I hope this will be a fair fight between your son and my friend,” Guardino said. 

 Don Antonio slowly sipped his coffee. He looked directly at Guardino.

“I do not fight my son’s battles. He is capable of fighting the foolish fights he himself begins, " Don Antonio said in English. “Frankly, I hope your friend knocks him on his ass, as you Americans say.”  

The two men laughed. 

 

Later that night, Russo and Guardino arranged for a car to take their wives and sons to a restaurant in Palermo, but Mike Guardino slipped away and hid behind a low wall near the beach to watch the fight. 

Lights were strung over a makeshift near-regulation boxing ring. Di Salvo came out in boxing gloves and a pair of shorts, his bare torso and arms thick with toned muscle. The large crowd cheered for him. 

Russo and Guardino walked towards the ring. Russo had on boxing gloves and was in shorts and a sleeveless t-shirt, which covered his protruding belly and showed his big arms. His bare legs were as thick as tree stumps.  

The fight began with Di Salvo delivering a series of solid blows to Russo’s face and middle. Although Russo’s left eye was closed, and his nose bloodied, he stood toe-to-toe with his younger opponent and traded punches.  

Then Russo delivered a good left to Di Salvo’s nose and a strong right hook to Di Salvo’s ear, which dropped him hard to the canvas. 

The crowd gasped, and some brave souls even cheered. Di Salvo got up quickly and showed that he was not injured. It appeared that only his pride was hurt. He rushed Russo and pounded him, but the old cook took the beating and stayed on his feet.  

Round two saw the two hit each other repeatedly and both were bloodied. Russo looked the worst of the two, as he had blood coming from his eyes, ears and nose. The referee the resort had hired tried to stop the fight.  

Russo would not have it. He waved Di Salvo on.  

Like Rocky Marciano, Russo’s boxing hero, Russo dropped his right hand low to the canvas and then brought it up swiftly where it connected under Di Salvo’s chin. Di Salvo collapsed on the canvas floor.  

The referee gave Di Salvo an “eight count” and then Di Salvo rose slowly to his feet. 

He came at Russo slowly, cautiously. Russo leaned on the ropes with his hands up. His left eye was closed, and his right eye was filled with blood, so he had trouble seeing Di Salvo. But when Di Salvo came in slugging, Russo wrapped his left arm around his opponent and drove his right hand repeatedly into Di Salvo’s middle.  

Di Salvo tried to break free as well as block the powerful blows to his body, but Russo had swung him around and pinned him against the ropes. Russo rained down punches into Di Salvo. The referee tried to break up the fighters, but he was not strong enough. 

Finally, Di Salvo collapsed in Russo’s grip and Russo let him drop to the canvas.             

 

The next day a much humbled and bruised Di Salvo walked up to Russo’s table and bowed to the two families assembled for lunch. He brought a bottle of fine wine and offered it to Russo. 

“My father suggested that I apologize for my rude behavior and congratulate you on your win in the boxing ring,” Di Salvo said. “As always, my father offers wise advice. I am truly sorry if my boorish behavior spoiled your vacation.”  

“Apology accepted,” Russo said gruffly. “Sit down and have a drink with us.”  

Di Salvo sat down. This time, Di Salvo offered a Sicilian toast.  

“If you and I recover sufficiently during your stay, I’d like to once again challenge you," Di Salvo said. "But not in the boxing ring!”  

Everyone at the table laughed.  

“We can set up targets here. How are you with guns?” Di Salvo asked Russo. “Can you shoot?”  

“Ask the Nazis he kicked off this island,” Guardino said.  

 © 2018 Paul Davis 

Note: You can read my other crime fiction stories via the below link:

Paul Davis On Crime: My Crime Fiction Stories 

Defense Contractor Pleads Guilty To Fraud, Money Laundering And Unlawful Export Of Military Data

 The U.S. Justice Department released the below information:

Yuksel Senbol, 36, of Orlando, pleaded guilty to 25 felony counts in Florida federal court, including conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, eight counts of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, seven counts of money laundering, conspiracy to violate the Export Control Reform Act (ECRA), four counts of violating the ECRA, and one count of violating the Arms Export Control Act.

According to court documents, beginning in approximately April 2019, Senbol operated a front company in the Middle District of Florida called Mason Engineering Parts LLC. She used this front company to assist her co-conspirators, Mehmet Ozcan and Onur Simsek, to fraudulently procure contracts to supply critical military components to the Department of Defense. These components were intended for use in the U.S. Navy Nimitz and Ford Class Aircraft Carriers, U.S. Navy Submarines, U.S. Marine Corps Armored Vehicles, and U.S. Army M-60 Series Tank and Abrahams Battle Tanks, among other weapons systems.

To fraudulently procure the government contracts, Senbol and her co-conspirators falsely represented to the U.S. government and to U.S. military contractors that Mason Engineering Parts LLC was a vetted and qualified manufacturer of military components, when in fact, the parts were being manufactured by Ozcan and Simsek in Turkey. And, as Senbol knew, Simsek’s involvement had to be concealed from the U.S. government because he had been debarred from contracting with the U.S. government after being convicted of a nearly identical scheme in the Southern District of Florida.

In order to enable Ozcan and Simsek to manufacture the components in Turkey, Senbol assisted them in obtaining sensitive, export-controlled drawings of critical U.S. military technology. Using software that allowed Ozcan to remotely control her computer – and thus evade security restrictions that limited access to these sensitive military drawings to computers within the United States – Senbol knowingly facilitated the illegal export of these drawings. She did so despite having executed numerous agreements promising to safeguard the drawings from unlawful access or export, and despite the clear warnings on the face of each drawing that it could not be exported without obtaining a license.

Once Ozcan and Simsek manufactured the components in Turkey, they shipped them to Senbol, who repackaged them – making sure to remove any reference to their Turkish origin. The conspirators then lied about the origin of the parts to the U.S. government and a U.S. government contractor to receive payment for the parts. Senbol then laundered hundreds of thousands of dollars in criminal proceeds back to Turkey through international wire transfers.

This scheme continued until uncovered and disrupted by federal investigators. Parts supplied by Senbol were tested by the U.S. military and were determined not to conform with product specifications. Many of the components supplied to the U.S. military by Senbol were “critical application items,” meaning that failure of these components would have potentially rendered the end system inoperable.

Senbol faces up to 10 years in prison for the conspiracy to defraud the United States offense and for each count of money laundering. She faces up to 20 years in prison for each count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to violate the ECRA, violating the ECRA and violating the Arms Export Control Act. Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 6. Alleged co-conspirators Mehmet Ozcan and Onur Simsek are fugitives.

This case was investigated by the FBI; General Services Administration, Office of Inspector General; Defense Criminal Investigative Service; Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security; Air Force Office of Special Investigations; Homeland Security Investigations; and Department of State, Directorate of Defense Trade Controls.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel J. Marcet and Lindsey Schmidt for the Middle District of Florida, and Trial Attorney Stephen Marzen of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case.