In its second enforcement action this year, on June 20th, the State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) reached a $100,000 settlement with Massachusetts-based Microwave Engineering Corporation. Despite the small penalty amount, this case is noteworthy in several respects. First, there was only one type of violation – over a period of six months the company allowed a single Chinese research scientist to gain unauthorized access to ITAR-controlled technical data related to Category XI(b) antennae. Typically, DDTC consent agreements involve more systemic violations. Second, while the company voluntarily disclosed the violation and cooperated with DDTC, the company failed to report the infraction in a timely manner – given that the deemed export involved a proscribed country national. According to ITAR section 126.1, any unauthorized export involving a proscribed country or national is to be promptly reported to DDTC. The company took almost two years after discovering the issue to disclose it to the government. Third, the company’s President was personally involved in the violation, repeatedly providing the Chinese employee with ITAR-controlled technical data without DDTC authorization. The company’s President also pleaded guilty to an unrelated criminal violation of the ITAR on the same day that the company submitted its voluntary disclosure. DDTC and other law enforcement agencies were already closely examining this company as part of that criminal case, which involved a conspiracy to export controlled items to Singapore, to a company that was separately charged in connection with the export of items to Iran later found in IEDs in Iraq. While this case does involve several unique circumstances, in particular the company’s President being involved in an unrelated conspiracy to violate the ITAR, it still presents an important message that even isolated violations can lead to major problems with DDTC if not promptly disclosed with adequate remedial steps.
