FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
TUESDAY - MARCH 18, 2008
ALLIED TELESIS LABS, INC., ENTERS GUILTY PLEA
RALEIGH - United States Attorney George E. B. Holding announced that Allied Telesis Labs, Inc. (ATL) entered a guilty plea today before United States District Court Judge Terrence W. Boyle to conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Powers Act (IEEPA), Title 50, United States Code, Section 1702 and 1705, Title 31, Code of Federal Regulations, Sections 560.203, 560.204 and 560.205 and 18 United States Code Section 371.
ATL, formerly known as Allied Telesyn Network (ATN), is a research and development facility with offices in the North Carolina State University Centennial Campus, Raleigh, North Carolina. It is a subsidiary of Allied Telesis, Inc. (ATI), which is headquartered in Bothell, Washington and which is in turn a subsidiary of Allied Telesis Kabushi Kaisha, (ATKK), a global holding company based in Tokyo with offices at various locations in the world. ATKK, either directly or through subsidiaries and/or business associates, is engaged in the design, manufacture, sale and installation of telecommunication systems.
ATL was successfully engaged in the design of telecommunication equipment and systems including high capacity Multiservice Access Platforms (iMAPs) and related items capable of routing a large volume of messages/information/data. ATL’s guilty plea acknowledged that the corporation conspired with another to trade with the Islamic Republic of Iran in violation of the law. Specifically, ATL and its related corporate entities conspired to land and execute a $95,000,000 contract with the Iranian Information Technology Company (IRITCO) to rebuild the telecommunications systems of approximately 20 Iranian cities, including Tehran. The iMAPS developed here in the triangle were to be a central component of this system. Preparation for the execution of the contract went as far as the manufacture of approximately $2 million worth of iMAPS at ATKK facilities in Singapore. The contract negotiations eventually collapsed, the telecommunications system was not installed and the iMAPs were sold elsewhere at a loss.
Mr. Holding stated “This case highlights both the sophisticated enterprise which now characterizes the Eastern District of North Carolina, and the responsibilities of policing and protecting that enterprise from those who would abuse it to the detriment of the United States.”
The guilty plea was entered pursuant to a written plea agreement and required the defendant to pay a fine of $500,000.
The case was investigated by the United States Commerce Department and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney John S. Bowler.
News releases are available on the U. S. Attorney’s web page at www.usdoj.gov/usao/nce within 48 hours of release.
