BALTIMORE, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- A Pakistani national living in Maryland pleaded guilty Friday to a scheme to illegally export to Pakistan nuclear-related devices and equipment.
In a plea agreement, Nadeem Akhtar, 46, of Silver Spring admitted the company he owns, Computer Communication USA, and co-conspirators obtained or tried to obtain the devices and equipment from October 2005 to March 2010, the Maryland U.S. attorney's office said in a news release.
Akhtar took direction from the owner of a Karachi, Pakistan, trading company who had business relationships with governmental entities in Pakistan, the release said.
Akhtar and co-conspirators used his company to obtain or attempt to obtain items with a value of more than $400,000, including radiation-detection devices, resins for coolant water purification and calibration and switching equipment, prosecutors said. The items were intended for export to "organizations of concern to the U.S. government as acting contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States," the release said.
The United States regulates export of items that can be used in nuclear facilities, and Akhtar violated regulations by selling the items while misrepresenting what he was selling and to whom, U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein said.
Akhtar, who remained in federal custody, faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
