Affidavit details life of intrigue by Connecticut exporter

STAMFORD, Conn. --Andrew Huang led a life of intrigue, making numerous trips to China, frequently making calls from a pay phone down the street from his house and driving as if to evade someone following him, authorities say.

In an indictment unsealed Monday, Huang, a 59-year-old exporter from Cromwell, was charged with conspiring with Chinese officials in a scheme to sell $27 million in telecommunications equipment from 1999 to 2001 to Saddam Hussein's government in Iraq. Joseph Thomas, 81, of White Plains, N.Y., also was charged with participating in the scheme.

The equipment allowed Iraq to maneuver its forces when the U.S. invaded the country in 2003, James Trainor, supervisory special agent for the FBI's counterintelligence squad in Connecticut, said Tuesday.

"With this equipment, they were far better able to respond to U.S. forces," Trainor told The Associated Press. "The government of China was an active participant in this transfer."

The sales violated U.S. law and international sanctions put in place after the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, according to the indictment.

A spokesman with the Chinese Embassy in Washington said he could not comment because he was not aware of the case. Huang's attorney, Sarah Russell, did not return phone calls placed Monday and Tuesday.

Huang was the president and owner of MacAndrews Inc., an export business in Middletown.

An arrest affidavit unsealed Tuesday details suspicious financial dealings, the role of a possible mistress, links to famous politicians and the seizure of gold and jewels.

Investigators say Huang would often drive using known evasive techniques, such as signaling for turns and not making them.

After returning from China last year, authorities searched Huang's luggage and found photos of him with former President Bill Clinton, U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., and former U.S. Rep. Sam Gejdenson, a Democrat who represented eastern Connecticut, according to the affidavit.

"During several of Huang's intercepted telephone calls, he has told persons in the PRC (People's Republic of China) that he knows many important and influential people in the United States, and he appears to use these claimed connections to further his business dealings in the PRC," the affidavit states.

Dodd's office said the senator does not know Huang, and has no idea when or where the photo was taken.

Gejdenson, now a consultant, said he wrote a letter on Huang's behalf supporting his release on bail. He said he's known Huang since 1982 and said he has strong ties to the community that would not make him a flight risk.

"I can't believe the accusations are accurate," Gejdenson said Tuesday, questioning whether Huang knew the equipment was destined for Iraq. "I was stunned."

Authorities say Huang knew where the telecommunications equipment was headed.

Huang was arraigned in Connecticut last week, and is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in New York later this week. Thomas was arraigned Friday and released on bond.

Huang was a lieutenant in the Taiwanese Air Force before arriving in the U.S. in 1976. He is suspected of -- but not charged with -- receiving a $560,000 kickback in a Taiwan corruption investigation, according to the affidavit.

Citing intercepted calls, investigators say Huang appears to have a mistress who is also his business associate.

The woman frequently asked Huang to obtain specific information, such as the type of additives used by the U.S. Navy on nuclear submarines, according to the affidavit. She told Hung that the Chinese military sought the information, investigators said.

"Based on my training and experience, I know that it is common for the PRC government to utilize mistresses to control agents and obtain foreign intelligence," an agent wrote in the affidavit.

Authorities listed numerous items to seize from Huang's home, including gold, silver, diamonds and photos of Huang with Chinese officials.