Thermal Imaging Cameras to China

On May 7, 2012, Hing Shing Lau, also known as Victor Lau, a foreign national living in Hong Kong, Peoples Republic of China, was sentenced in the Southern District of Ohio to 10 months in prison followed by 2 years supervised release. Previously, on May 3, 2012, Lau pleaded guilty to two counts of violating export control laws. On June 9, 2009, a federal grand jury in the Southern District of Ohio indicted Lau on charges of trying to buy 12 infrared thermal imaging cameras from a Dayton-area company in order to illegally export the cameras to Hong Kong and China. The indictment alleges that Lau tried to buy 12 thermal imaging cameras manufactured in Texas by contacting a company in the Dayton area. On three occasions, he wire transferred a total of $39,514 from Hong Kong to the U.S. as partial payment for the cameras. The indictment charges Lau with two counts of violating export control laws and four counts of money laundering. Canadian authorities arrested Lau on June 3, 2009, at the Toronto International Airport pursuant to a provisional arrest warrant issued by U.S. authorities. The investigation was conducted by the FBI, and BIS, with the assistance of the U.S. Department of State.