http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20070325-9999-1n25secrets.html By Matt Krasnowski COPLEY NEWS SERVICE March 25, 2007 LOS ANGELES - The FBI knew about Chi Mak's retirement plans, what his dining room looked like and what he allegedly took home from work. The 66-year-old engineer for a Southern California defense contractor and his 57-year-old brother, Tai Mak, were under surveillance for months. Agents tapped the Maks' phones, planted listening devices in their cars, sifted through their trash and installed a closed-circuit camera above Chi Mak's dining-room table. Investigators suspected Chi Mak was taking restricted documents about naval technology from his job at Anaheim-based defense contractor Power Paragon and passing them to his brother, who was going to deliver them to a contact in China. In October 2005, Tai Mak and his wife were arrested at Los Angeles International Airport as they were preparing to board a flight to China. In their luggage was a set of English-instruction compact discs, but disc 3 in the set contained encrypted files on Navy electric-drive propulsion systems that would make submarines hard to detect. The Chinese-born Chi Mak, who became a U.S. citizen in 1985, and his wife were arrested the same day at their home in Downey. He remains in custody. While some past high-profile U.S. criminal cases suggesting Chinese espionage have been scuttled, Chi Mak's trial is set to start Tuesday in Santa Ana about a year after he reportedly planned to retire. He faces charges of conspiracy to export U.S. secrets to China, possession of property in aid of a foreign government and failure to register as a foreign agent. If convicted, he could be sentenced to more than 50 years in prison. Tai Mak, his wife and son, and Chi Mak's wife face a separate trial in May. The extremely sensitive information the Maks were trying to pass to the Chinese could have endangered the lives of officers and sailors who serve on submarines, prosecution papers state. Experts say the trial could be groundbreaking because little has been made public about the activity of Chinese military intelligence agents in the United States. This case is going to be a reference point, said Paul D. Moore, who worked for 20 years as the FBI's chief China analyst. This is the first case against an alleged Chinese military intelligence operation that the government has made public. Chi Mak's lawyers contend that the allegations are blown out of proportion and have innocent explanations. It is expected that the defense will argue that the secret documents Chi Mak allegedly was stealing had been made public at professional conferences. He was universally known as one of the most dependable, hard-working engineers who worked for Power Paragon, and he had committed himself to the U.S. Navy and naval research, said Mak's lawyer, Ronald Kaye. Prosecutors say they plan to present evidence that casts a harsh light on the Maks' activities. Only days before Tai Mak's arrest, agents heard him talk on the telephone with Mr. Pu in China. Mak said he was with Red Flower of North America, traveling to Guangzhou and bringing his assistant. In court papers, prosecutors note that many Chinese intelligence units use the names of flowers, such as Winter Chrysanthemum. During an Oct. 28, 2005, search of Chi Mak's home, agents found thousands of documents. All were unclassified, but many were restricted from sharing with anyone who was not a U.S. citizen with a need to know the information, prosecutors said. The search also turned up tasking lists asking Chi Mak to get documents on sensitive projects. A search of his trash in March 2004 led to the discovery of two other torn-up lists. In addition to the information on the submarine propulsion systems, prosecutors contend that the Maks possessed documents on the next generation of Navy warships, known as DD(X). In a jailhouse interview with agents, Chi Mak admitted he had passed documents containing sensitive material to China since 1983, prosecution papers state. This included information about Aegis-equipped warships. _________________________________________ Visit the InfoSec News Security Bookstore http://www.shopinfosecnews.org
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