Opinion ID: 619535
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Arrest of Wallach and the Criminal Complaint

Text: On March 13, 2009, Wallach was arrested by agents of the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and charged with attempting and conspiring to export items listed on the USML, to wit the Jammers, without a license or other written authorization from the State Department, in violation of 22 U.S.C. § 2778(b)(2) and 18 U.S.C. § 371. The criminal complaint, filed against him in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (March 2009 Complaint or Criminal Complaint), alleged that Wallach and Wireless had provided components to a company in New Jersey (NJ Company) for the manufacture of the Jammers and that the Jammers were expected to be sold to NATO, which had signed a purchase order for the Jammers in February 2008. ( See March 2009 Complaint ¶¶ 7(b)-(c).) It alleged that DDTC, in March 2008, had denied the NJ Company an export license for the Jammers on the ground that they could interfere with existing equipment being used by United States forces in Afghanistan. ( See id. ¶ 7(b).) The Criminal Complaint alleged that, after DDTC refused to grant the necessary export license to the NJ Company, Wallach urged the NJ Company's ownerwho was an ICE confidential source (CS)to transfer the Jammers to Wallach's possession so that Wallach could sell them to a third party outside of the United States. ( See id. ¶¶ 3(a), 7, 7(c).) It alleged that Wallach told the CS that Wallach was willing to sell the MILJAM-350 IED Jammers to any third party who was willing to buy them. ( Id. ¶ 7(c).) The Criminal Complaint alleged that the CS provided ICE with documents relating to his business dealings with Wallach and allowed ICE to record telephone conversations with Wallach. On March 13, 2009, the CS, in New York City, had several recorded conversations with Wallach in preparation for the finalization of Wallach's purchase of the Jammers. Later that day, Wallach, the CS, and an ICE undercover agent met at the NJ Company's warehouse. Wallach stated that he wanted to ship the Jammers first to a United States locationwhich he refused to disclosewhere he and another person would disassemble them for shipment of the components to Israel and Turkey, where the Jammers could be reassembled. ( See March 2009 Complaint ¶ 8(b).) The Criminal Complaint alleged that: c. The CS advised WALLACH that he should get an export license before shipping the MILJAM-350 IED Jammers overseas, and discussed the fact that an export license required the exporter to designate an end user. WALLACH proposed that he fabricate the name of the end user or simply mislabel the equipment as a civilian product. d. WALLACH advised that the end users of the twenty MILJAM-350 IED Jammers in question might be in Iraq, and that he had numerous customers in the Middle East region. The CS asked WALLACH why he did not get an export license. WALLACH responded that he could not get one. e. WALLACH asked the CS why he (the CS) did not sell the MILJAM-350 IED Jammers to overseas customers. The CS responded that he (the CS) could not get an export license. WALLACH then stated that this was why his customers came to him for the MILJAM-350 IED Jammers. (March 2009 Complaint ¶¶ 8(c)-(e).) After the meetings on March 13 between Wallach and the CS, Wallach was arrested. Several days later, ICE agents seized the Jammers from the NJ Company's warehouse.