INDICTED FORMER USMC OFFICER WHO TRAINED CHINESE FIGHTER PILOTS IN CARRIER LANDINGS CHARGED WITH MONEY LAUNDERING AND OTHER OFFENSES

We can expect that the United States Department of Justice will employ money laundering charges as an additional weapon against individuals engaged in prohibited activities involving China, if the case against DANIEL DUGGAN is any indication of this policy. Duggan, a former US Marine Major and fighter pilot, is fighting extradition from Australia. He is alleged to have trained Chinese pilots in how to launch and land jet aircraft on a naval aircraft carrier, without receiving the required permission from the United States Government. Duggan, currently an Australian citizen, surrendered his American citizenship after the period in which the alleged criminal activities occurred. He previously lived in China for an extended period of time.

According to reports from Australia, Duggan has been indicted in the United States on charges of:

1. Money Laundering Conspiracy.                                                                                                                  2. Arms Trafficking.                                                                                                                                          3. Conspiracy

It is alleged that Duggan, at the time an American citizen,  concealed $182,570 in prohibited transactions from the US Government while training what appear to be PRC fighter pilots. He reportedly worked for the Test Flying Academy of South Africa, which imported a T-2 Buckeye, an American jet trainer Duggan used, without export authorization from the US. China has been accused of approaching a number of former military pilots from the West to assist its military.

The use of money laundering charges, which can carry a prison term of twenty years, against defendants who commit crimes unrelated to financial crime, to bolster their potential exposure, has long been a tactic of the DOJ, and its application here to former MAJ Duggan's case is instructive, and a warning to an future defendants in China sanctions violations cases that they will face some serious prison time in indicted.