Feds: Suspects tried to illegally ship technology made in Santa Rosa to China

Two men from China are accused of attempting to illegally export technology that was produced in Santa Rosa to China, federal investigators announced recently.

An indictment was unsealed last week in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against Han “Anson” Li, 44, and Lin Chen, 64, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Li and Chen are charged with conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, false electronic export information activities, smuggling and other IEEPA violations.

“The export restrictions at issue in this case were put in place to prevent the illicit procurement of commodities and technologies for unauthorized military end use in the People’s Republic of China,” U.S. Attorney Ismail Ramsey said in a statement.

Li and Chen are suspected of trying to illegally obtain a DTX-150 Automatic Diamond Scriber Breaker machine from Santa Rosa-based Dynatex International, the DOJ reported. The machinery is used to cut thin semiconductors, or silicon wafers.

Dynatex officials could not be reached for comment Tuesday. The company’s website did not include a phone number or address, and a Facebook page listed a phone number that was inoperable.

According to the DOJ, Li and Chen are accused of trying to ship products to Changdu GaStone Technology Company, or CGTC, between at least May 2015 and August 2018.

The company is among a number of entities that have been federally barred from receiving certain products, according to the DOJ.

Li and Chen are accused of identifying another company, Jiangsu Hantang International, as the machine’s buyer. Information related to the transaction made no mention of CGTC, officials said.

Details about how this alleged activity was uncovered or how the suspects were identified was not immediately available Monday.

Chen was arrested April 24 in Chicago and Li is believed to be in China.

You can reach Staff Writer Colin Atagi at colin.atagi@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @colin_atagi