Singaporean arrested in US over $4.8m arms deal
By Ansley Ng, TODAY
A Singaporean businessman has been charged in the United States for
trying to buy hundreds of machine guns, handguns, fighter jet
missiles and radar equipment, allegedly to be exported to Indonesia
through Singapore.
Ibrahim Bin Amran, 46, and three other men are expected to be tried
in a court in Detroit, Michigan, for attempting to purchase 245
Sidewinder missiles for military aircraft, 882 Heckler & Koch
(H&K) MP5 submachine guns, 800 H&K 9mm handguns, 16 H&K
sniper rifles and 5,000 rounds of ammunition from an arms
company.
The US$3-million ($4.84-million) deal was stopped when agents from
the US Homeland Security Department and Immigration and Customs
Enforcement arrested the men on Sunday in Hawaii while they were on
the way to inspect aircraft parts.
Those arrested with Ibrahim are Indonesians Hadianto Djoko
Djuliarso, 41, and Ignatius Ferdinandus Soeharli, and Briton David
Beecroft.
"We consider this to be a serious and grave threat to our national
security," said US Attorney Stephen Murphy yesterday.
"The agencies involved in the case worked hard to arrest
individuals who were ready, willing and able to buy American
weapons and take them outside the country."
American officials added that the case did not involve any plot to
use the weapons for terrorism. Ironically, it is believed that it
was the unnamed American arms company, which the men have been
wooing for a year, which set the authorities on them.
On Friday, undercover federal agents, posing as company salesmen,
met the men at Hawaii's Honolulu airport. The next day, the agents
took them to inspect the weapons.
Two of the men were said to have been travelling with their
wives.
The four men, who face up to 25 years in prison, were charged with
conspiring to violate the US Arms Export Control Act.
Hadianto and Ibrahim were also slapped with money laundering
charges.
According to court documents, the deal was spawned in April last
year when an employee of Indodial - a Jakarta-based aircraft spare
parts company set up by Ibrahim and Hadianto - contacted an
American company seeking to buy military aircraft parts for export
to Indonesia.
In June, Ibrahim met officials from the weapons firm in London to
discuss the deal.
At another meeting in December, which was held in Detroit, the men
offered US$3.3 million for the arms and said they would buy them
even though they didn't have the proper export licence. Hadianto
also urged that the deal be kept a secret, court papers
showed.
On March 30, the pair sent US$447,000 to the company as a partial
payment.
During an indictment hearing in Detroit on Tuesday, Ignatius was
identified as the one who provided the cash, while Beecroft, who
lives in Singapore, was tasked to arrange the shipment of the arms
to Indonesia.
Other than Indodial, Ibrahim and Hardianto also own three other
companies -PBJV Global, Eaststar Logistics and Etaru Indonesia -
all based in or doing business in Singapore and Indonesia.
Hadianto's role in the deal is unclear but according to an employee
at PBJV Global - Ibrahim's Singapore-registered oil and gas
spare-parts company - the two men are business partners and
frequently meet to discuss their "aircraft spare-parts
business".
Beecroft is also no stranger to Ibrahim's company. He is hired as a
freelance salesperson for PBJV Global's, a company official told
TODAY.
Last Thursday, Ibrahim, who frequently travels to Indonesia on
business, left Singapore for Hawaii, telling his employee at PBJV
Global that he was going to meet a US contact to discuss buying new
products for the company.
He was supposed to return to work at his Jalan Sultan office today,
said the employee. His wife, known to his staff as "Ani", is
believed to have been with him at time of arrest. The couple have
no children and live in an HDB flat in Bishan.
The employee said he did not notice anything "unusual" about
Ibrahim's last trip to the US, adding that he was "shocked" that
his workplace could be the heart of an international arms smuggling
operation.
"He is a very understanding and flexible employer," he said. "He
doesn't look like he would even know how to handle a gun."
The men are currently being held in Hawaii and will be taken to
Detroit to answer charges. Authorities in both states could not be
reached for comment.
TODAY/ra
