The federal government is seizing a Waltham home that a fugitive couple allegedly used to unlawfully ship goods to Syria, including to a company linked to improvised explosive devices used against US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, prosecutors said.
In a statement, US Attorney Andrew E. Lelling’s office said it has filed a “civil forfeiture action” against the home located at 10 Juniper Hill Road in Waltham, where the fugitives, Anni Beurklian and Antoine Ajaka, formerly lived.
Beurklian, a naturalized US citizen from Lebanon, and Ajaka, a lawful permanent resident from Lebanon, had operated Top Tech US Inc. from their Waltham residence, the statement said.
The company and the couple were indicted in March 2018 on charges of conspiracy to violate U.S. export laws and regulations, conspiracy to defraud the United States, smuggling U.S. goods out of the United States, illegally providing services to persons located in Syria, mail fraud, conspiracy to obstruct justice and obstruction of justice, according to Lelling’s office.
The couple fled the United States in 2018 as they were engaged in plea negotiations with prosecutors, the statement said. They’re now believed to be in Syria or Lebanon.
According to prosecutors, from 2014 until the pair went on the lam, they used their Waltham home to obtain goods including electronics, computer equipment and electrical switches from US companies, and then exported those items to nations including Lebanon, Egypt and China in violation of American law.
Among the couple’s customers was Amir Katranji, a Syrian citizen who runs a company called EKT, the statement said. In 2007, the statement said, EKT and its founder, Mohammad Katranji, who’s Amir Katranji’s father, were placed on the Department of Commerce’s Entity List.
The elder Katranji and EKT were placed on the list after American authorities determined they “were involved in activities related to the acquisition, attempted acquisition, and/or development of improvised explosive devices, which were being used against U.S. and Coalition troops in Iraq and Afghanistan,” the statement said.
Prosecutors said there’s also evidence that EKT was “involved in the development of chemical weapons used by the Syrian Government.”
Lelling’s office said Ajaka and Beurklian allegedly supplied goods to EKT and its subsidiaries.
“It is alleged that pursuant to instructions Katranji provided, Beurklian would ... export electronics, computer equipment and electrical switches from the Waltham home, misidentifying the purchaser or end user and falsely understating the value of the goods, thus avoiding the triggering of reporting and/or licensing obligations for exports under U.S. customs laws.”
The US government has also taken over EKT’s website.
Lelling’s office said prosecutors “obtained a seizure warrant for the website domain, ekt2.com, and related email domain @ekt2.com. EKT used the domain to facilitate the shipment of goods in violation of U.S. export laws. A banner on the website now informs the public that the website has been seized by ICE – Homeland Security Investigations.”
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