By Julie Cheever
Bay City News Service
Fourteen people, including a Saratoga man, were indicted by a federal grand jury in San Francisco last week on charges of smuggling 2,000 automatic machine guns and 20,000 rifle stands from China and then laundering the profits.
The 30-count indictment follows the arrests of seven of the defendants last month and the seizure last March of 2,000 SK-47 machine guns smuggled from China to Oakland. Among those arrested was Hammond Ku, 49, of Saratoga, a San Jose restaurant owner, who is accused of organizing the smuggling plot.
The seizure of the 2,000 guns, with an estimated street value of $4 million, was described by authorities as the largest confiscation of fully operational assault weapons in U. S. history.
The defendants include the seven men and women arrested in Northern California, a Los Altos man who is a fugitive and six other fugitives who are Chinese citizens. Three of the Chinese are officials of Norinco, a weapons company in the People's Republic of China that allegedly manufactured the machine guns seized in March.
Assistant U. S. Attorney William Schaefer said he was not sure when the defendants will be arraigned before a federal magistrate, but he said the date may be June 21.
Schaefer said "requests for assistance from the Chinese government" have been made in connection with the six defendants from China. There is no extradition treaty between the People's Republic of China and the United States.
Richard Ma, 49, of Los Altos remains a fugitive. Ma was an officer of a Chinese munitions firm called Poly Technologies, which did business in the United States under the name of Dynasty Holding Co. of Atlanta, according to the indictment.
The indictment accuses Ku and eight others, including three executives from Norinco, of laundering more than $600,000 received in payment for the machine guns. The indictment seeks forfeiture of those funds as well as $70,000 seized in a search of Ku's Saratoga home and the assets of Dynasty Holding Co.
Ku's attorney, Jerrold Ladar of San Francisco, said his client, a permanent resident alien from Taiwan, has lived in the United States since 1973 and has no record of criminal activity.
Ku has been granted release on bail. Ku, his wife and son each signed a $1 million bond secured by real estate.
Ku, the owner of Bill of Fare, a San Jose eatery, faces multiple counts of smuggling, illegal firearms importation, and other crimes that could each expose him to a prison term of up to 10 years.
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, June 12, 1996.
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