Two Chinese nationals are being charged in a San Francisco federal court with attempting to smuggle semiconductor manufacturing technology out of the U.S. and into China, court documents revealed. The indictment, which was unsealed on Wednesday, accuses Han Li, 44, and Lin Chen, 64, of scheming to funnel sensitive machinery used in processing silicon wafer microchips to a Chinese firm on the U.S. blacklist.

As per the indictment, the pair had been working on this plot from May 2015 through August 2018, circumventing American export controls by enlisting intermediary companies to conceal the true destination of the tech. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California, they aimed to provide the equipment to Changdu GaStone Technology Company (CGTC), a blacklisted entity denied access to certain U.S. tech due to national security concerns.

Authorities nabbed Li in Chicago, while Chen is believed to still be in China. The accused could face hefty penalties if convicted, including up to 20 years behind bars and fines reaching $1 million for conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). Additional charges include false electronic export information activities and smuggling.

In trying to evade detection, the indictment claims Li and Chen instructed Dynatex International, a California firm from where they attempted to procure the diamond scriber breaker machine, to falsify export records so as not to tip off the feds about the machine's real recipient. "The export restrictions at issue in this case were put in place to prevent the illicit procurement of commodities and technologies for unauthorized military end use in the People’s Republic of China," stated U.S. Attorney Ismail Ramsey via the U.S. Attorney's Office press release. In collaboration with the Department of Justice's National Security Division, his office is working hard to uphold the nation's export laws.

"Stopping the flow of U.S. semiconductor technology that supports the PRC’s military modernization efforts is a top priority for the Office of Export Enforcement," echoed Brent Burmester, Special Agent in Charge at the Dept. of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security, per the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California. The case is the cumulative effort of the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Department of Commerce to protect American technologies and national security staunchly.