A Navy civilian engineer has been indicted for trying to steal schematics of an aircraft carrier under construction and have them sent to Egypt. The 35-year-old Muslim man, Mostafa Ahmed Awwad, was arrested Friday on two counts of attempted exportation of defense articles and technical data. According to prosecutors, Awwad tried to steal technical data in the designs of the USS Gerald R. Ford in late October. FBI agent posing as an Egyptian intelligence officer caught Awwad providing computer drawings downloaded from the Navy. The FBI affidavit said Awwad began working for Navy last February in the Norfolk Naval Shipyard’s nuclear engineering and planning department. An undercover FBI agent, speaking in Arabic, contacted Awwad in September. In a meeting, Awwad asserted that it was his intention to use his position of trust with the Navy to obtain military technology for use by the Egyptian government. The affidavit also said the pair met in October at a hotel where Awwad described a plan to circumvent Navy computer security by installing software enabling him to copy documents without tripping a security alert. From Fox news: The undercover agent was given aircraft carrier drawings marked with warnings that foreign distribution could result in criminal prosecution. Awwad indicated he understood the computer drawings would be used in Egypt. He agreed to provide the agent with passport photos to produce a fake Egyptian passport so Awwad could travel without alerting U.S. government officials. Awwad also asked for $1,500 to buy a tiny camera to enable him to photograph restricted material around the shipyard. On Oct. 23, Awwad retrieved $3,000 in cash from a pre-arranged drop site along a secluded hiking trail and left behind a container with an external hard drive and two passport photos. The FBI later collected the container. Awwad not only provided photos of blueprints for the vessel, he also explained the best places to strike the carrier in order to sink it. Awwad allegedly brought a handgun to one of his meetings with his contact as well. Awwad was born in Saudi Arabia, but had married his wife in Cairo. He held a US security clearance that granted access to “classified national defense information” up to the “secret” level of classification.On November 28, Awwad was seen at his Navy office. He was holding what appeared to be aircraft carrier design schematics, which he placed on the floor and photographed. Awwad is scheduled for a detention hearing on Dec. 10 in federal court in Norfolk. He is facing a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each count upon conviction.
Posted on: Sat, 06 Dec 2014 15:48:08 +0000
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