Hemant Lakhani
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Hemant Lakhani (1935 – June 19, 2013) was an Indian-born British rice trader and sari salesman. He was convicted in 2005 of illegal arms dealing after purchasing a fake
surface-to-air missile A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-aircraft syst ...
from a Russian intelligence agent posing as a disgruntled military officer, then attempting to sell that missile to an informant working for FBI and posing as a Somali terrorist.


Background

Born in
Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...
, Lakhani moved to
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
in 1974. Lakhani and his wife Kusum ran a number of businesses, including an export/import business Multitrade (London) Ltd and Reliance Clothing Company Ltd.


Investigations

The extent of Lakhani's background in
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
remains unknown, although one of his fellow directors in the Reliance Clothing Company is known to maintain a
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
address. He was first noticed by the FSB in March 2003 and his past is presently being investigated by India's
Central Bureau of Investigation The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is the premier investigating agency of India. It operates under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. Originally set up to investigate bribery and governmen ...
. It is thought that he approached the
Degtyaryov Plant Degtyaryov Plant (russian: ОАО Завод имени В. А. Дегтярёва, ОАО Zavod imeni V. А. Dеgtyaryovа, English: Open Joint Stock Company " V. A. Degtyaryov Plant") or ZiD (Zavod imeni Dеgtyaryovа) is one of the most importa ...
to purchase the missile after researching the company on the internet. Due to a tip-off from
MI6 The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...
, the FSB agent posed as a representative of the company to sell him a disabled Igla missile. There is some evidence that MI6 grew interested in him after he made contact with
Ukrspetsexport Ukrspecexport ( uk, Укрспецекспорт, an abbreviation of "Ukrainian Special Export") is a Ukrainian state-owned arms trading company and part of the state conglomerate Ukrainian Defense Industry. Ukrspecexport was formed in Novembe ...
, an arms company suspected of supplying illegal arms to
Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
.


Criticism of American investigation

U.S. government agents were continuously involved with Lakhani's case, many claim to the point of entrapment. It is not clear that Lakhani, before allegedly being convinced by US agents, would have wished to obtain support for terrorism. It is also unclear whether Lakhani could ever have delivered on his promises of illegal arms to a government informant: When Lakhani was unable to obtain a missile, the U.S. government, acting through the intelligence community, provided him with one. Such counterterrorist strategies have been described by legal scholars as window dressing, because they target supposed enemies who are so weak as not to be a threat, and divert resources from addressing real threats. In a 2006 article in ''
The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper tha ...
'', Christopher Hayes wrote, Lakhani's involvement with U.S. government agents and intelligence has been the subject of an episode of the
public radio Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...
show ''
This American Life ''This American Life'' (''TAL'') is an American monthly hour-long radio program produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media and hosted by Ira Glass. It is broadcast on numerous public radio stations in the United States and internation ...
'', aired in 2005 and 2009.


Conviction

Lakhani was prosecuted by
U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey The U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey is the chief federal law enforcement officer in New Jersey. On December 16, 2021, Philip R. Sellinger was sworn in as U.S. Attorney. The U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey has juris ...
Chris Christie Christopher James Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, lobbyist, and former federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018. Christie, who was born in Ne ...
. He was convicted by jury in April 2005 of attempting to provide material support to terrorists, unlawful brokering of foreign defense articles and attempting to import merchandise into the U.S. by means of false statements, plus two counts of money laundering. He was sentenced to 47 years in prison, and died in 2013.Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator
/ref>


References


External links

*http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4239588.stm *https://www.theguardian.com/armstrade/story/0,10674,1018257,00.html *https://web.archive.org/web/20030820204640/http://www.njusao.org/files/la0813_r.htm *http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/articles/6229181?source=Evening%20Standard *http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/292/the-arms-trader *http://www.thisamericanlife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=387 {{DEFAULTSORT:Lakhani, Hemant 1935 births 2013 deaths Gujarati people Indian emigrants to England People convicted of arms trafficking People convicted on terrorism charges People from Gujarat People convicted of fraud