United States: The United States has charged the head of a US think tank with being an agent of China as well as seeking to broker the sale of weapons and Iranian oil.
According to a statement released by the Justice Department, federal prosecutors in New York charged Mr. Gal Luft, a citizen of the US and Israel, of engaging “in multiple, serious, criminal schemes.”
The prosecutors said the 57-year-old “subverted forIAGSeign agent registration laws in the United States to seek to promote Chinese policies by acting through a former high-ranking US Government official.”
“In addition, Mr. Luft acted as a broker in deals for dangerous weapons and Iranian oil, and he told multiple lies about his crimes to law enforcement,” the statement added.
Mr. Luft was arrested in February at a Cyprus airport but fled after he was released on bail pending US extradition proceedings. The Justice Department said it was asking for information on Mr. Luft’s whereabouts.
A Twitter account bearing Mr. Luft’s name, with more than 15,000 followers, said in a February 18 tweet that he had been arrested in Cyprus “on a politically motivated extradition request by the US”.
“I’ve never been an arms dealer,” the tweet added.
Mr. Luft is co-director and founder of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security (IAGS), which describes itself as a Washington, DC-based think tank focused on energy, security, and economic trends.
Prosecutors allege Mr. Luft brokered a deal for Chinese companies to sell weapons to countries including Libya, the United Arab Emirates, and Kenya, despite lacking the licence needed under US law.
Mr. Luft is also accused of setting up meetings between Iranian officials and a Chinese energy company to discuss oil deals, despite US sanctions on the Middle Eastern country.
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