JURY CONVICTS EXPORTER OF SENSITIVE ITEMS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000404490001-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 22, 2010
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: July 14, 1983
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/22 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000404490001-1
Jury Convicts
Exporter of
Sensitive Items
By Cliff Tan
%ka_ntn2ton Post Stan Vriter
A Falls Church man was con-
victed in U.S. District Court in Al-
exandria yesterday of illegally ex-
porting high-technology electronics
components to Austria, possibly for
eventual shipment to Soviet bloc
nations.
A Jury found Guenther R.
Nachtrab, 43, guilty of 10 counts of
conspiring to ship and actually ship-
ping integrated circuits .and other
electronic parts without export li-
censes. -
The components.. worth_ about
S40.000. were banned from export
because they could have both mil-
itary and civil applications' said
Thomas M. Buchanan. assistant U.S:
attorney.
Some of the parts could be used
for guidance in such weapons as
smart bombs," cruise missiles and
sidewinder missiles, and others could
be used in telecommunications gear
such as radar. he said.
Three other defendants indicted
along with Nachtrab remain at large
because they reside in Europe. No
extradition provisions exist for 'al-
leged violations of national security
export controls, said Theodore Wu,
deputy assistant secretary for export
enforcement in the Department of
Commerce.
Buchanan said Nachtrab operated
a small Falls Church firm known at
various times as Text Editing Equip-
ment, The Electronics Exchange, or
TEE.
He told suppliers from whom he
bought pans that he planned to use
the components either in a non-ex-
WASHING T CN PCST
14 July 1983
istent Nest Virginia manufacturing
plant or for a non-existent contract
with the CIA, Buchanan said. -
In reality, authorities charged.
some parts were sent to the Vienna.
Austria, firm of Steuerungstechnik
and Messgeraete (SMG). run bY
Anna Landau-Wellems and her
daughter, Jeanette Wellems, who
were also named in the original in-
dictment.
Nachtrab, in one instance,
shipped parts to a West German
firm, Contacts, for reshipment to i
SMG to avoid licensing require-
ments, Buchanan said. Contacts is
operated by Klaus Talleur, another
defendant who has not been brought
to trial.
Records of communication be-
tween SMG and Nachtrab indicated
that the components were intended
for Soviet bloc countries. Buchanan
said. One specific reference was to a
client in Budapest, Hungary, he said.
Landau-Wellems once operated a
firm placed by the Department of
Commerce on the embargo list be-
cause of suspected dealings with So-
viet bloc countries, Buchanan said.
The conspiracy to evade export
regulations began in July 1981 and
continued until March 1982. with
the illegal shipments made between
January and March of 1982, Bu-
chanan said.
Investigations began in March
1982 after two employes of Nachtrab
reported to authorities that goods
were being exported by their firm
without proper papers. The value of
the shipments on invoices was
marked down to avoid licensing re-
quired for more valuable shipments,
they said.
A 20-count indictment against
Nachtrab and the other three defen-
dants was returned April 14.
Nachtrab was acquitted yesterday
on one of the counts, and nine
counts were dismissed during the
course of the trial by Judge James C.
Cacheris. Nachtrab was convicted on
the other 10 counts. Sentencing was
set for Sept. 2.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/22 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000404490001-1