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L-3 Communications

U.S. v. Liu (Unauthorized Export of Military Articles)

Date: 09/07/2011 (Date of Superseding Indictment)

Misconduct Type: Import/Export

Enforcement Agency: Multiple Agencies

Contracting Party: Defense - General

Court Type: Criminal

Amount: $0

Disposition: Found Guilty

Synopsis: Sixing Liu, a/k/a, “Steve Liu,” worked as a senior staff engineer at L-3 Communications’ Space & Navigation division from March 2009 until November 2010. In September 2011, Liu was indicted on charges of misappropriating and exporting sensitive military technology to China and making false statements to law enforcement agents. According to the indictment, Liu was part of a research and development team that worked on navigation and positioning devices used in artillery and missile systems. Liu was never issued a company laptop or approved to access or possess the company’s work product outside of its New Jersey facility; however, in November 2010, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents caught Liu at an airport with a non-work-issued computer containing L-3 documents relating to his research. A subsequent search of his residence turned up other L-3 proprietary documents. The government alleges that while he was in China, Liu gave presentations about the technology he was developing for the Department of Defense (DoD) without having obtained the company’s approval, and that when he returned to the U.S. he lied to ICE agents about the purpose of his trip and the extent of his work for DoD. In September 2012, a federal jury found Liu guilty on nine counts and acquitted him on two.