Chicago case alleges ties to North Korea

CHICAGO (AP) — A Taiwanese businessman long suspected of ties to North Korea and his Illinois-based son have been charged in Chicago with seeking to bypass a U.S. ban on the export of weapons machinery to the hard-line communist nation, federal prosecutors announced Monday.

Hsien Tai Tsai, 67, and his 36-year-old son, Yueh-Hsun Tsai, are charged with one count each of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. in its enforcement of laws prohibiting the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Chicago said.

The statement suggests a wider investigation.

Federal agents have been investigating the two Tsais and a network of companies on suspicion of trying to export goods and machinery from the U.S. "that could be used to produce weapons of mass destruction," it said.

The father, who lives in Taiwan, was arrested on Wednesday in Tallinn, the capital of the Baltic Sea-coast nation of Estonia. The statement from prosecutors doesn't speculate about why Hsien Tsai was in Estonia, though it says U.S. authorities are seeking his extradition. The son, a legal U.S. resident, was arrested on the same day last week at his home in suburban Glenview, just outside Chicago, according to prosecutors.

The arrest comes as North Korea, under the leadership of Kim Jong Un, has faced international criticism over its nuclear and weapons-development programs. The federal complaint released Monday doesn't offer details about which weapons systems the machinery could have benefited.

The elder Tsai, who also goes by Alex Tsai, fell under suspicion of U.S. authorities at least as far back as 2008, when he was convicted in Taiwan of forging shipping invoices and illegally shipping restricted materials to North Korea, the U.S. Department of Treasury said in press release at the time.

Treasury officials accused him of shipping items to North Korea that could be used to support its advanced weapons program, and the department in 2009 placed a wide-ranging prohibition on him doing any business in or with the United States. The ban applied to him and several Taiwanese-based companies he helped run, including Trans Merits Co. Ltd. and Trans Multi Mechanics Co. Ltd., the complaint says.

It was the alleged bid to skirt the 2009 prohibition, with the son's alleged help, that led to the charges in Chicago. Among the items they allegedly conspired to export was what prosecutors described as "a Bryant center hole grinder," which is used to drill precise, smooth holes through elongated metal, the compliant says. The machinery got to Taiwan, but the complaint doesn't indicate if it might have reached North Korea.

Yueh-Hsun Tsai, who also goes by Gary Tsai, appeared in a federal courtroom in Chicago on Monday. Magistrate Judge Susan Cox agreed to his release on $500,000 bond. He will be confined to his home and will be under electronic monitoring.

Speaking to reporters later on Monday, the younger Tsai's attorney insisted the machinery involved was "unsophisticated."

"And there is no allegation Mr. (Yueh-Hsun) Tsai knew it was destined for North Korea," the attorney, Ted Poulos, said. He added about the business deals involved, "It amounts to a rather benign business transaction."

In addition to the count of conspiracy to defraud U.S. proliferation laws, the father and son each face one count of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and one count of money laundering. The count of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. carries a maximum five-year prison sentence, while violating the economic powers act and money laundering each carries a maximum 20-year term.

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Follow Michael Tarm at www.twitter.com/mtarm

Via Yahoo News!

Hezbollah leader alleges CIA infiltration

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah -- seen here in September 22, 2006 -- says three spies have been discovered in the group.Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah says three spies were discoveredTwo were recruited by the CIA, he saysNasrallah accuses the CIA of acting on behalf of IsraelThe U.S. embassy in Beirut says the claims are false

Beirut, Lebanon (CNN) -- Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said that the militant Islamic group has uncovered three spies within its ranks, two of whom were recruited by the CIA, Lebanon's state news agency reported.

The U.S. embassy in Beirut dismissed the report as "empty accusations."

Nasrallah declined to give the names of the suspected spies, offering their initials instead, Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA) said in its report Friday.

"The first name is A.B. This person was recruited five months ago by a CIA officer," Nasrallah said.

The alleged spy confessed his relation to the CIA after Hezbollah found out about him, according to Nasrallah.

The second spy, "H.M.," was recruited by the CIA before "A.B." Nasrallah referred to the third accused spy as "M.A.," the NNA reported.

"We confirmed that he collaborated with a foreign body and we are still investigating which one," Nasrallah said about the third suspected spy, according to the agency.

The Hezbollah leader stressed that none of the individuals involved in spying was a high-ranking official and, as such, they were not in a position to harm the organization.

Nasrallah accused the CIA of acting at the insistence of Israel. Hezbollah and Israel fought a war in 2006.

The United States considers Hezbollah, which has close ties to Iran and Syria, to be a terrorist organization. The group is a political party and a major provider of social services in Lebanon, in addition to operating a militant wing.

"When Israel failed to infiltrate Hezbollah, it asked the help of the CIA," Nasrallah said, according to NNA.

A U.S. embassy spokesperson in Beirut rejected Nasrallah's claims.

"These are the same kinds of empty accusations that we have heard repeatedly from Hezbollah. There is no substance to his accusations," the spokesperson said. "It appears as if Nasrallah was addressing internal problems within Hezbollah with which we have nothing to do. Our position towards Hezbollah is well known and has not changed."

CNN

Eyewitness to Miami Beach shooting alleges police misconduct

(CNN) -- An eyewitness to a fatal police shooting in Miami Beach last week claims police officers attempted to confiscate the video he filmed of the incident, and even crushed his phone underfoot in an attempt to destroy the recording.

Narces Benoit says he just happened to be in the area driving with his girlfriend when police fatally shot an erratic driver early Memorial Day morning.

He said after the disturbance started, he pulled over his truck, and started recording with his cell phone camera capturing the shooting.

"When he noticed me recording, one of the officers jumped in the truck, put a pistol to my head," he said. "My phone was smashed - he stepped on it, handcuffed me."

Juan Sanchez a detective with Miami Beach Police Department said he could not comment on how officers that night handled eyewitnesses who may have filmed the incident, because the matter could become the subject of an internal investigation or a civil lawsuit.

But Sanchez added that after the shooting, the site was an active crime scene and the police were looking for additional suspects.

Benoit's girlfriend, Ericka Davis, was also in the truck at the time.

"They handled us like we were criminals," she said. "The officer came over to the driver's side, on my left, and just put the gun to my head."

"They took everyone's phones and smashed them," she said.

Benoit says the only reason he still has the footage is because it was saved on a tiny memory card, which he removed and hid from the officers, despite being told to hand over his video.

"I took the chip out and put it in my mouth," he said, and kept it there the whole time he was interviewed by police at a nearby mobile command post.

His video shows an officer on a bike approaching his truck and pointing a gun directly into the camera; giving an indecipherable command; and then backing away.

Another officer orders them to stop filming and get out of the truck, and then the video ends.

Benoit charged CNN a fee to license his video and air it in a news report. He has since given police a copy, he said, but is considering suing them over his treatment.

Miami Beach police say they are still investigating the fatal shooting of the driver, that Benoit captured on tape.

Police say at around 4 a.m. on Memorial Day, officers stopped Raymond Herisse in his car, but after an altercation, he sped off.

Miami Beach Police Chief Carlos Noriega said that Herisse drove recklessly, striking other cars, "driving on sidewalks, and you name it."

"One of the officers was struck," he told reporters. Luckily the officer was not seriously injured, he said, but the suspect posed a threat to the officers and the public, "as a situation involving deadly force."

A video posted on YouTube, which CNN cannot independently confirm, shows a commotion on a wide boulevard, as an erratically driven car comes to a stop at an intersection. Bystanders scatter as officers surround the car, with guns drawn. Then gunfire breaks out. In Benoit's video, it looks like there are muzzle flashes from the pistols of as many as a dozen officers.

Herisse was killed, and four bystanders were injured by gunfire, according to Noriega.

Benoit and Davis criticized the police for the number of shots they fired, in the presence of numerous bystanders.

"We could have been killed," said Davis. "They were shooting so long, you could hear their guns clicking on empty, but they kept pulling the trigger," she said. "I think that's excessive."

Noriega said it was unclear whether the suspect shot at the officers, but police later recovered a gun from his car.

CNN