An indictment has been released revealing charges against Mohammad Jawaid Aziz, also known as Jawaid Aziz Siddiqui and Jay Siddiqui, 67, a dual citizen of Pakistan and Canada. He faces accusations of conspiracy and breaching U.S. export regulations. Siddiqui was apprehended on March 21 in the Western District of Washington while trying to enter the United States from Canada. He remains in custody awaiting transfer to Minnesota.
According to the allegations, from 2003 through March 2019, Siddiqui ran an illicit procurement network via his Canadian company, Diversified Technology Services. This network aimed to acquire U.S.-origin goods for prohibited Pakistani entities linked to nuclear, missile, and UAV programs.
The indictment indicates that Siddiqui, using Diversified Technology Services, obtained sensitive and restricted items regulated by export administration laws from U.S. firms for the restricted entities in Pakistan. Siddiqui and his collaborators allegedly hid the goods' true recipients from U.S. companies by employing front companies and rerouting products through other countries.
Siddiqui faces charges of conspiracy to transgress the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the Export Control Reform Act, with a potential maximum sentence of five years in prison, and another charge under the Export Control Reform Act, which could lead to up to 20 years in prison. Sentencing will be determined by a federal judge, considering U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutory factors.
The announcement was made by Sue J. Bai, head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, FBI Counterintelligence Division Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky, and the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security Chicago Field Office Special Agent in Charge Aaron Tambrini.
“I am proud of the strong partnership between my office and the Justice Department’s National Security Division,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa D. Kirkpatrick. “We have no tolerance for defendants who violate U.S. export laws to send U.S.-origin goods to prohibited entities—here, entities in Pakistan associated with the country’s nuclear, missile, and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) programs. Mohammad Aziz will now face federal justice here in Minnesota.”
Homeland Security Investigations Minneapolis, the FBI Minneapolis Field Office, and the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security Chicago Field Office carry out the investigation.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Bradley Endicott for Minnesota and Nicholas Hunter from the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section lead the prosecution, with support from Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Jensen, and the Department's Office of International Affairs.
The indictment is a formal accusation, and defendants are considered innocent until proven guilty in court.
