Belgian National Charged with Smuggling US Military Tech to Russia and China

Hans Maria De Geetere allegedly conspired to export millions of dollars worth of US electronics used in military applications, facing up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

• Hans Maria De Geetere, a 61-year-old Belgian national, has been charged with illegally exporting military-grade electronics from the US to Russia and China.
• De Geetere and his businesses have been added to the BIS Entity List and the OFAC Specially Designated and Blocked Person List for moving the illicit weapons technology.
• De Geetere allegedly conspired with a Florida man, Eddy Johan Coopmans, to smuggle export-controlled FPGA circuits to Russia and short-wave infrared surveillance (SWIR) cameras to China, wiring payments totaling more than $1.2 million to individuals they believed could get them the devices.
• De Geetere is also accused of attempting to procure accelerometers to export to China between April 2021 and August 2023, falsely claiming that the end users were European organizations.
• If convicted, De Geetere faces a maximum of five years in prison for conspiracy to smuggle goods and for each count of making false statements, ten years in prison for smuggling of goods, and 20 years in prison for conspiracy to launder funds.

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