Tech Executive Pleads Guilty to Illegally Shipping Equipment to Designated Pakistani Agency

Obaidullah Syed, a Chicago-based technology executive, pleaded guilty to illegally exporting computer equipment to a nuclear research agency owned by the Pakistani government, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois said. Syed owned Business System International USA, based in Chicago, along with Business System International stationed in Pakistan, both of which produce high-performance computing platforms, servers and software application solutions. From 2006 to 2015, Syed conspired with other BSI employees in Pakistan to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act by shipping computer equipment to the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission without obtaining prior authorization from the Commerce Department, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. The PAEC is a government agency responsible for designing and testing explosives and nuclear weapons parts, and was designated by the U.S. as an entity that could pose a national security threat, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. Syed and his co-conspirators lied to U.S.-based computer manufacturers that his shipments were headed to Pakistani universities or Syed's other businesses, Syed admitted. BSI Pvt. Ltd. was also charged as a corporate defendant.