Former US pilot arrested in Australia has the same address as that of Chinese hacker

A former US military pilot arrested in Australia and facing possible extradition to the United States on undeclared charges, the same Beijing address jailed in the United States on charges of conspiracy to hack into the computers of US defense contractors Has been listed as a closed Chinese businessman, the documents show.

The Beijing address is listed in an Australian company’s filings for the pilot and a US blacklisting for the Chinese businessman, however, it was unclear whether he used the Beijing address at the same time.

Australian Federal Police last month arrested a former US citizen, Daniel Edmund Duggan, 54, in the rural town of Orange in the state of New South Wales, acting on a US request for his arrest.

His lawyer said the US arrest warrant and the details of the charges against him have been sealed. As a result, Reuters was unable to determine the specifics of Duggan’s case.

“He denies violating any US law, any Australian law, any international law,” Dennis Miralis, Duggan’s lawyer for Nyman, Gibson and Miralis, said outside a Sydney court on Friday.

Miralis said Duggan was being taken to a maximum security prison in the regional city of Goulburn and did not seek bail as directed by a hearing in a local Sydney court. The hearing of the case was adjourned till November 28.

A former military pilot told Reuters that Duggan, who became an aviation consultant after his military service, moved from Australia to Beijing in 2013/2014 to work with Stephen, a Chinese businessman.

Shown in a photo by a Reuters reporter, the former military pilot identified the convicted Chinese businessman Stephen Su on charges of hacking in the United States, but did not give details about the business the two were involved in.

Duggan’s LinkedIn profile also said that he was in China during this time.

Another aviation source said that Duggan went to Beijing to work with Stephen Su, also known as Su Bin in China.

Su Bin was arrested in Canada in July 2014 and jailed in the United States two years later in a high-profile hacking case involving the theft of US military aircraft designs by the Chinese military. was held, court records show.

Same Beijing address listed

A Reuters review of the company’s filings for Duggan’s former business Top Gun Tasmania to the Australian corporate regulator revealed that Duggan had attested documents notifying him of his change of address and the sale of the company in January and April 2014. In which his residential address was given from December 2013. An apartment in Beijing’s Chaoyang district.

In August 2014 the same address appeared on the US Entity List belonging to Su Bin and his aviation technology company Nuodian Technology, also known as Load Tech in English language marketing materials.

The US Entity List, which refers to both company names, is a business blacklist of people and companies considered to be a risk to US national security.

Address, Building 1-1, No. 67 Caiman Street, Chaoyang Road, US blacklisted for involvement in US Department of Defense contractor unauthorized exploitation of computer systems to illegally obtain controlled technology related to military projects Is.

When Reuters visited the Beijing address this week, the reporter was told it was a residential building and had been denied entry.

The US blacklist also cites a second address for Nuodian Technology and Su Bin in an office complex next to a residential building. A building manager told Reuters that someone at Nuodian Technology had opened an office there, but said the company moved seven to eight years ago. This is around the time of Su Bin’s arrest.

Chinese company records show that Nuodian Technology first registered its Beijing office in 2003.

Su Bin, 51, was sentenced in 2016 to 46 months in prison by a Los Angeles court after being accused of participating in a year-long plan by Chinese military officials to obtain sensitive military information.

Su Bin pleaded guilty to conspiring with two Chinese Air Force officers who hacked Boeing and other companies’ computer systems to obtain data about military projects, violating the Arms Export Control Act.

extradition to US

Duggan arrived in Australia from China weeks before his arrest and held talks with Australian intelligence agencies, his lawyer said. He did not name the agencies, whether the investigation was being conducted or provide details about Duggan’s possible role in it.

Miralis said he would file a complaint with Australia’s Inspector General of Intelligence, a monitoring body about matters related to Australia’s national security. The Inspector General’s office declined to comment.

Miralis said the US should not request extradition until the complaint is resolved.

Under Australia’s extradition treaty with the United States, an extradition request must be made within 60 days of the arrest.

“It is important to understand that the legal system in Australia has not yet seized jurisdiction over the matter, we are more in the area of ​​international relations, and it is up to the United States Department of State to determine whether a wants to send extradition requests to Australia,” Miralis said.

“It has nothing to do with law, it has everything to do with international politics and international relations.”

The United States Department of Justice has declined to comment about Duggan’s case.

Australia’s attorney general’s department said it could not provide details of any possible extradition request and China’s foreign ministry said it was “not aware of the situation”, in response to written questions from Reuters.

Robert Anello, the attorney representing Su Bin in the 2014 hacking case, declined to comment and Su Bin could not be reached for comment.

Duggan’s arrest came the same week Britain warned dozens of former military pilots to stop working in China or to be prosecuted under new laws designed to prevent the British government from training former RAF pilots to the Chinese military on national security grounds. Granted, because it risked the transfer of secrets and information about the capabilities of the British Air Force.

(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)