A former U.S. Marine pilot faces a conspiracy charge in connection with providing flight training to Chinese military aviators, a violation of a U.S. arms control law, the Justice Department said.
Daniel Edmund Duggan, an Australian citizen, taught pilots in the Chinese military pilots how to take off and land on aircraft carriers on at least three occasions from 2010 to 2012 in South Africa, according to a 2017 indictment unsealed this week.
He was arrested in Australia in October, the same week Britain announced a crackdown on its former military pilots working to train Chinese military aviators.
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This image shows a carrier-based J-15 fighter jet preparing to land on the Chinese navy’s Liaoning aircraft-carrier during open-sea combat training. A former U.S. Marine is charged with conspiracy for training Chinese military pilots, authorities said.
(Hu Shanmin/Xinhua via AP)
Duggan faces two counts of violating the arms export control act and international arms trafficking regulations and a charge of conspiracy and conspiracy to launder money. The U.S. must lodge an extradition request by Dec. 20, Reuters reported.
The Justice Department said Duggan and his unnamed co-conspirators never applied for a license to provide their services to foreigners. The co-conspirators include three people from China, the United Kingdom and South Africa.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Duggan’s attorney, Dennis Miralis, in Australia. Last month, Miralis said his client is classified as an “extreme high risk” and has been denied access to pens or stationery and has been refused medical treatment.
He added that Duggan has renounced his American citizenship, according to Reuters.
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Reuters previously reported that Duggan moved from Australia to China in 2014 to work as an aviation consultant and shared a Beijing address with Chinese businessman Su Bin, who was jailed in the U.S. in 2016 in a hacking case involving the theft of U.S. military aircraft designs.
Duggan operated a business called Top Gun Australia, which calls itself the country’s premier adventure flight company.
