Former U.S. Marine pilot Daniel Duggan has been arrested in Australia.
His crime? An indictment by a U.S. court is accusing him of breaking U.S. arm control law by training Chinese military pilots.
According to the 2017 indictment, “Duggan provided military training to PRC (People’s Republic of China) pilots” at a South African flight school on three separate occasions during 2010 and 2012.
Apparently Duggan had been contracted directly by a Chinese national to teach for a Chinese state owned company.
Some of his duties included training pilot trainees, testing equipment and providing instruction on how to land aircrafts on carriers.
In the same week, Britain had made an announcement regarding cracking down on former military pilots working to train Chinese fliers.
While Duggan’s lawyer did not respond to a request for comment regarding the indictment, he has previously stated that Duggan denies breaching any law and currently lives as an Australian citizen after renouncing his U.S. citizenship.
The indictment also mentions how a T-2 Buckeye aircraft was purchases from a U.S. aircraft dealer for the specific training in question.
Now, the former Marine is facing four charges, which include conspiracy to defraud the U.S., conspiracy to launder money, as well as two counts of violating arm control law.
Duggan originally moved to Australia back in 2002 after serving a decade in the U.S. Marines. in 2014, he moved to Beijing where he stayed to work as an aviation consultant before returning to Australia just weeks before his arrest.
The former Marine also previously shared a Beijing address with Chinese businessman Su Bin, who had been arrested and sentenced to prison in a high-profile hacking case related to theft of U.S. military aircraft designs.