NRI was accused of falsifying shipping documents
Pittsburgh, June 21, 2006
Ramesh Verma
NRI Manoj Bhayana, 39, of Green Tree, engineer was charged
by federal prosecutors in Pittsburgh with conspiring to ship
graphite products to the United Arab Emirates that possibly
could be used for nuclear or military purposes.
Federal authorities say from December 2003 through September
2004, Manoj worked with another person and three companies (not
named) to conceal the origin of the graphite products sent to
a trading company in the Middle Eastern country. Graphite is
the most stable form of solid carbon and graphite materials
are used in nuclear reactors. Military uses for graphite include
blocking electromagnetic waves used by the enemy to detect troops.
"Had these documents not been falsified, the graphite
could not have been shipped from the United States," U.S.
Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan said
U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security,
Office of Export Enforcement investigate the export of commodities
that can be used for commercial purposes as well as for military
purposes.
According to the Federal authorities, Manoj may go up to five
years in prison and a $250,000 fine.