Santa Rosa Technology Exported to China: Two Men Indicted for Violating IEEPA

Two Chinese men, Han “Anson” Li, 44, and Lin Chen, 64, are facing charges of attempting to illegally export technology produced in Santa Rosa to China. The indictment against them was unsealed last week in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. They are accused of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, false electronic export information activities, smuggling, and other IEEPA violations. These export restrictions were put in place to prevent the procurement of commodities and technologies for unauthorized military use in China.

The two men are suspected of trying to obtain a DTX-150 Automatic Diamond Scriber Breaker machine from Dynatex International, a company based in Santa Rosa. This machinery is used to cut thin semiconductors, specifically silicon wafers. Despite attempts to contact officials at Dynatex, no information on the company was readily available.

Details about how this illegal activity was discovered or how the suspects were identified have not been disclosed. Chen was arrested in Chicago on April 24 while Li is believed to be in China. For more information, contact Staff Writer Colin Atagi at colin.atagi@pressdemocrat.com or on Twitter @colin_atagi