(하긴 이런뉴스 요즘 미국에 자주 나곤 하죠)
Spy suspect’s nephew jailed
SANTA ANA (AP) – The nephew of a Chinese-American engineer charged in a scheme to send sensitive information about Navy warships to China was ordered detained Monday after prosecutors called him a flight risk.
A judge denied bail to Yui ”Billy” Mak, 26, and ordered him held until trial begins Nov. 7, Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Staples said.
Mak, a student at the University of California-Los Angeles, was arrested Wednesday and indicted on charges of making false statements and failing to register as an agent of a foreign government. His mother, Fuk Heung Li, was also arrested on the same charges.
They face up to 15 years in prison if convicted of both charges.
Li, previously indicted on federal marriage fraud charges, was free on bond and was expected to be arraigned in the current case next month.
Mak is the nephew of Chi Mak, a U.S. citizen who prosecutors say took computer disks from an Anaheim defense contractor where he was the lead engineer on a sensitive research project involving propulsion systems for Navy warships.
The government alleges Chi Mak, 65, passed the information to his brother, Tai Wang Mak, 56, who is Billy Mak’s father and also a defendant in the case. Billy Mak, according to prosecutors, then put the information onto encrypted CDs for transport to China.
That disk was found in the luggage of Tai Mak and Li when they were arrested at Los Angeles International Airport as they prepared to travel to Hong Kong and Guangzhou, China, authorities said.
Tai Mak, Chi Mak and his wife, Rebecca Laiwah Chiu, 62, were each charged with one count of failing to register as a foreign agent. All have pleaded not guilty.
Trial for the five family members was set for Nov. 7.
