Thu Mar 08, 2007 10:45 am
From the LA Times (posted on our internal news feed this morning).
Parts sale sparked seizure of F-14s
Retired fighter jets at Chino Airport museums shouldn't have been sold, federal officials say
Los Angeles Times 03/08/2007
Authors: Maeve Reston and Sara Lin
Copyright 2006 The Los Angeles Times
A federal crackdown on the illegal sale of F-14 fighter jet parts to Iran led to the seizure of four privately owned
military aircraft in San Bernardino County this week, after one jet owner surfaced in a sting operation to thwart
the sale of an F-14 cockpit canopy, authorities said.
As military technicians dismantled the fighters Wednesday at airports in Chino and Victorville, federal officials
said the investigation was continuing and no criminal charges had yet been filed.
The F-14 Tomcats, retired from military service, were supposed to have been scrapped in the late 1990s.
Instead, a Navy official at the Naval Air Station at Point Mugu "improperly" approved the sale of three jet
fighters in 1999 to an unauthorized Oxnard scrap company for $4,000 or less apiece, according to a federal
affidavit. A fourth plane ended up in the hands of the producers of the TV drama "JAG," who used it as a
prop, according to federal court records.
"These planes were junk," said Paul Rafferty, the attorney for Yanks Air Museum at Chino Airport, which bought
three of the planes from a middleman for $50,000 in 1999 and still owns two of the aircraft.
The planes have been stripped of their engines, navigational equipment and virtually every other piece of hardware
necessary to get the planes off the ground, he said.
Still, Rafferty said, federal agents told him the planes were being seized as "evidence" in a criminal investigation
into the military's original sale of the planes.
Rick Gwin, special agent in charge of the Western field office of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service,
declined to comment on the investigation, saying only that the jets never should have been sold.
"These were warplanes in the hands of private individuals," Gwin said. "We took them back because they
were ... not acquired in the appropriate channels."
The Pentagon, under pressure from Congress, in January suspended sales of thousands of spare parts from
its recently retired F-14 fleet after criticism that the parts could be transferred to Iran.
Iran is the only country that still has an active F-14 program. It bought the jets from the U.S. in the 1970s
when Iran was an ally.
The seizure of the F-14s comes when the Bush administration is grappling with Iran, which has rebuffed
diplomatic efforts to suspend uranium enrichment for its nuclear program. President Bush has sent warships
near the Persian Gulf country, and at the same time the United States has agreed to join high-level diplomatic
talks with Iraq, Iran and Syria.
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) has introduced a bill that would stop the Defense Department from
selling surplus F-14 parts for good and would prohibit those who have already acquired such parts from
exporting them.
"Every time the Pentagon says they've taken care of it and taken necessary precautions, people accidentally
get their hands on parts," said Wyden, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
At Chino Airport, two of the jets are owned by Yanks and one by the Planes of Fame museum. The fourth,
used on "JAG," was sold to the company Aviation Warehouse, which supplies military props for TV
shows and movies, and was being stored at the Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville.
On Wednesday, federal officials said they discovered the improperly released F-14s during an investigation
into illegal black-market arms sales between a Bakersfield company and Iranian officials, a case that first
began in the late 1990s.
In 2001, the owner and two officers of Bakersfield-based Multicore Ltd. were convicted of violating the
Arms Export Control Act in 2001 for acting as a front company for the Iranian government to acquire
missiles and aircraft parts, according to court records.
British officials later arrested the top figures at the London-based affiliate of Multicore and invited U.S.
officials to sort through warehouses full of seized weapons and purchase orders for parts from Iranian
military officials.
U.S. agents also found paperwork documenting the sales between Multicore and U.S. parts dealers, including
several transactions with Greg Forbes, a former parts dealer from Northern California who had sold at least
one F-14 canopy and other parts to Multicore, said Clark Settles, a U.S. customs agent who handled the case.
The agents with the Defense Criminal Investigative Service later conducted a sting to snare Forbes, and that
investigation led to the four F-14s in San Bernardino County, court records show.
Forbes agreed to acquire and sell an F-14 canopy to an agent posing as an Iranian businessman, according
to federal officials and the affidavit filed in federal court this week.
Forbes then brokered a deal with a Yanks museum staffer, who agreed to trade an extra F-14 canopy
owned by Yanks for an engine lifting device, museum officials said.
There was no evidence that the Yanks employee knew that the canopy, which the museum said it had
obtained through a government surplus program, might end up in the hands of Iranian officials, Settles said.
"We had extra canopies, but we really needed one of these specialty lifts, so for us it was a great trade," said
Rafferty, the attorney for Yanks Air Museum. "We don't know anything about what that guy was doing."
Forbes' deal with the undercover agent ultimately fell through after Forbes decided to contact the FBI and
reported that he had been contacted by an Iranian official about F-14 parts, the affidavit stated.
When an undercover agent uttered the word "Iran," Forbes figured something was up, he said Wednesday.
"I said, 'You can't sell it to Iran. You have to have an export license,' " Forbes said. "Then that's when I called
the FBI and DCIS. I called Customs, even."
Forbes told FBI and defense intelligence officials that he had obtained the F-14 canopy from Yanks, which
alerted the officials that the museum had excess F-14 parts.
In 2005, defense intelligence and Navy officials visited Yanks and other local museums to find out which
museums had F-14s and ensure that they had been properly acquired, according to the affidavit. Officials
discovered that four aircraft in Chino and Victorville had been improperly released by Navy officials and that
there was no documentation showing they had been properly demilitarized.
The owner of Yanks, Charles Nichols, said the museum often had to scrounge far and wide for parts to
rebuild the airplanes it acquired but added that it generally traded only within a close-knit network.
Nichols said his employees had been contacted only once by a person from another country who was seeking
F-14 parts -- and that call was not returned.
Times staff writer Jonathan Abrams contributed to this report.
Parts sale sparked seizure of F-14s
Retired fighter jets at Chino Airport museums shouldn't have been sold, federal officials say
Los Angeles Times 03/08/2007
Authors: Maeve Reston and Sara Lin
Copyright 2006 The Los Angeles Times
A federal crackdown on the illegal sale of F-14 fighter jet parts to Iran led to the seizure of four privately owned
military aircraft in San Bernardino County this week, after one jet owner surfaced in a sting operation to thwart
the sale of an F-14 cockpit canopy, authorities said.
As military technicians dismantled the fighters Wednesday at airports in Chino and Victorville, federal officials
said the investigation was continuing and no criminal charges had yet been filed.
The F-14 Tomcats, retired from military service, were supposed to have been scrapped in the late 1990s.
Instead, a Navy official at the Naval Air Station at Point Mugu "improperly" approved the sale of three jet
fighters in 1999 to an unauthorized Oxnard scrap company for $4,000 or less apiece, according to a federal
affidavit. A fourth plane ended up in the hands of the producers of the TV drama "JAG," who used it as a
prop, according to federal court records.
"These planes were junk," said Paul Rafferty, the attorney for Yanks Air Museum at Chino Airport, which bought
three of the planes from a middleman for $50,000 in 1999 and still owns two of the aircraft.
The planes have been stripped of their engines, navigational equipment and virtually every other piece of hardware
necessary to get the planes off the ground, he said.
Still, Rafferty said, federal agents told him the planes were being seized as "evidence" in a criminal investigation
into the military's original sale of the planes.
Rick Gwin, special agent in charge of the Western field office of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service,
declined to comment on the investigation, saying only that the jets never should have been sold.
"These were warplanes in the hands of private individuals," Gwin said. "We took them back because they
were ... not acquired in the appropriate channels."
The Pentagon, under pressure from Congress, in January suspended sales of thousands of spare parts from
its recently retired F-14 fleet after criticism that the parts could be transferred to Iran.
Iran is the only country that still has an active F-14 program. It bought the jets from the U.S. in the 1970s
when Iran was an ally.
The seizure of the F-14s comes when the Bush administration is grappling with Iran, which has rebuffed
diplomatic efforts to suspend uranium enrichment for its nuclear program. President Bush has sent warships
near the Persian Gulf country, and at the same time the United States has agreed to join high-level diplomatic
talks with Iraq, Iran and Syria.
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) has introduced a bill that would stop the Defense Department from
selling surplus F-14 parts for good and would prohibit those who have already acquired such parts from
exporting them.
"Every time the Pentagon says they've taken care of it and taken necessary precautions, people accidentally
get their hands on parts," said Wyden, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
At Chino Airport, two of the jets are owned by Yanks and one by the Planes of Fame museum. The fourth,
used on "JAG," was sold to the company Aviation Warehouse, which supplies military props for TV
shows and movies, and was being stored at the Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville.
On Wednesday, federal officials said they discovered the improperly released F-14s during an investigation
into illegal black-market arms sales between a Bakersfield company and Iranian officials, a case that first
began in the late 1990s.
In 2001, the owner and two officers of Bakersfield-based Multicore Ltd. were convicted of violating the
Arms Export Control Act in 2001 for acting as a front company for the Iranian government to acquire
missiles and aircraft parts, according to court records.
British officials later arrested the top figures at the London-based affiliate of Multicore and invited U.S.
officials to sort through warehouses full of seized weapons and purchase orders for parts from Iranian
military officials.
U.S. agents also found paperwork documenting the sales between Multicore and U.S. parts dealers, including
several transactions with Greg Forbes, a former parts dealer from Northern California who had sold at least
one F-14 canopy and other parts to Multicore, said Clark Settles, a U.S. customs agent who handled the case.
The agents with the Defense Criminal Investigative Service later conducted a sting to snare Forbes, and that
investigation led to the four F-14s in San Bernardino County, court records show.
Forbes agreed to acquire and sell an F-14 canopy to an agent posing as an Iranian businessman, according
to federal officials and the affidavit filed in federal court this week.
Forbes then brokered a deal with a Yanks museum staffer, who agreed to trade an extra F-14 canopy
owned by Yanks for an engine lifting device, museum officials said.
There was no evidence that the Yanks employee knew that the canopy, which the museum said it had
obtained through a government surplus program, might end up in the hands of Iranian officials, Settles said.
"We had extra canopies, but we really needed one of these specialty lifts, so for us it was a great trade," said
Rafferty, the attorney for Yanks Air Museum. "We don't know anything about what that guy was doing."
Forbes' deal with the undercover agent ultimately fell through after Forbes decided to contact the FBI and
reported that he had been contacted by an Iranian official about F-14 parts, the affidavit stated.
When an undercover agent uttered the word "Iran," Forbes figured something was up, he said Wednesday.
"I said, 'You can't sell it to Iran. You have to have an export license,' " Forbes said. "Then that's when I called
the FBI and DCIS. I called Customs, even."
Forbes told FBI and defense intelligence officials that he had obtained the F-14 canopy from Yanks, which
alerted the officials that the museum had excess F-14 parts.
In 2005, defense intelligence and Navy officials visited Yanks and other local museums to find out which
museums had F-14s and ensure that they had been properly acquired, according to the affidavit. Officials
discovered that four aircraft in Chino and Victorville had been improperly released by Navy officials and that
there was no documentation showing they had been properly demilitarized.
The owner of Yanks, Charles Nichols, said the museum often had to scrounge far and wide for parts to
rebuild the airplanes it acquired but added that it generally traded only within a close-knit network.
Nichols said his employees had been contacted only once by a person from another country who was seeking
F-14 parts -- and that call was not returned.
Times staff writer Jonathan Abrams contributed to this report.
WTF
Fri Mar 09, 2007 2:31 am
snj-5 wrote:From the LA Times..
Forbes' deal with the undercover agent ultimately fell through after Forbes decided to contact the FBI andreported that he had been contacted by an Iranian official about F-14 parts, the affidavit stated.
When an undercover agent uttered the word "Iran," Forbes figured something was up, he said Wednesday.
"I said, 'You can't sell it to Iran. You have to have an export license,' " Forbes said. "Then that's when I called the FBI and DCIS. I called Customs, even."
Forbes told FBI and defense intelligence officials that he had obtained the F-14 canopy from Yanks, which alerted the officials that the museum had excess F-14 parts.
In 2005, defense intelligence and Navy officials visited Yanks and other local museums to find out which
museums had F-14s and ensure that they had been properly acquired, according to the affidavit. Officials discovered that four aircraft in Chino and Victorville had been improperly released by Navy officials and that there was no documentation showing they had been properly demilitarized.
The owner of Yanks, Charles Nichols, said the museum often had to scrounge far and wide for parts to
rebuild the airplanes it acquired but added that it generally traded only within a close-knit network.
Nichols said his employees had been contacted only once by a person from another country who was seeking F-14 parts -- and that call was not returned.
Times staff writer Jonathan Abrams contributed to this report.
Uh-Oh...WTF! As I understand the upshot of this case, the "redflag" went up
when Iran was mentioned, Forbes made the proper notifications..the system worked.
There is an implication that the fella who originally bought the F-14's for 5K each had a
sweetheart deal before he passed them on that will be further investigated. But, how did the
LA Times get involved, before this case was resolved? This smells like that red-herring boondoggle
in Alaska last year. The way some of this stuff is worded and presented, a trail of history is being established which places museums and warbird owners as being susceptible to the nefarious designs of enemies of the Nation.
Scare the public, and of course more legislation will be forthcoming to protect us!
TimAPNY,
When I said, "ATF in a number of situations", I WAS thinking of Ruby Ridge and
Waco. I haven't had a BBR(Belushi Ballistic Rant), for a over a year now...
and I really want to move to the next step up in the program...so I'm being
good. Plastic scissors are useless on mortar...
Last edited by airnutz on Fri Mar 09, 2007 1:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Fri Mar 09, 2007 9:37 am
The system worked, but the sting seems to have exposed a problem. Assuming that everything the LA Times reported is true (not that I necessary believe it, but it is all I have to go on), Forbes only put on the brakes when the undercover agent mentioned "Iran". I'll go out on a limb here and speculate that a real baddie working for Iran might not mention "Iran". Forbes might then not become suspicious and might unwittingly sell the part to Iran, as allegedly he has already done. What this does show is that useful parts for F-14s can be obtained from museums if you are a good liar and offer them something they "really needed".
I don't know that we need legislation, but maybe somebody should be keeping track of preserved F-14s a little more closely, at least until Iran's fleet is gone, which shouldn't be too many more years.
August
I don't know that we need legislation, but maybe somebody should be keeping track of preserved F-14s a little more closely, at least until Iran's fleet is gone, which shouldn't be too many more years.
August
Fri Mar 09, 2007 9:42 am
I was under the impression that Iran's old F-14's were just rotting away in hangers and unable to fly due to missing critical parts and the fact that the techs sabotaged the planes before fleeing Iran after the fall of the Shaw in 1979. Anybody have any info on the condition of their F-14's.
John
John
Fri Mar 09, 2007 11:40 am
john, at best all our intelligence sources can come up with is speculation as to iran's f-14's flyability, nothing etched in stone. i'm sure they are prudently assuming that they are flyable, because without hard facts worse case scenario is the responsible way to think. the embargo since 1979 means nothing, replacement parts can be easily obtained, or tooled for production. the iranian president is crazy, but not stupid. in fact..... a little bit of interesting trivia!! did you know that he was among & participated in the 1979 hostage crisis?? that s.o.b. helped hold our citizens against their will for 444 days. he has quite the resume as a leader of a country.
Fri Mar 09, 2007 2:14 pm
They have severall that still fly. A year or two ago their fleet was even repainted in a grey camo pattern
Fri Mar 09, 2007 2:39 pm
I took these yesterday of the ongoing activity related to these aircraft. The very nice County Sheriff there told me that the disassembly crew were private contractors with previous Navy aircraft experience and that the aircraft were being disassembled with care to prevent damage. She didn't know whether or not the museums would be able to get the aircraft back. I was also asked not to cross the line unless I wanted to run afoul of the law. Being the responsible citizen I am (with all my "assault weapons" even registered) I was careful not to do so.
I'm not sure which is which other than the one in the middle with the engines installed belongs to Yanks.
And Yanks remaining F-14 which was acquired from a different source and was NOT seized (and still has the canopy
):
I'm not sure which is which other than the one in the middle with the engines installed belongs to Yanks.
And Yanks remaining F-14 which was acquired from a different source and was NOT seized (and still has the canopy
):
Re: WTF
Fri Mar 09, 2007 3:11 pm
[quote="airnutzTimAPNY,
When I said, "ATF in a number of situations", I WAS thinking of Ruby Ridge and
Waco. I haven't had a BBR(Belushi Ballistic Rant), for a over a year now...
and I really want to move to the next step up in the program...so I'm being
good. Plastic scissors are useless on mortar...[/quote]
I was more referring to Clinton vs. Bush thing.
Wow, that sounds a bit dirty.
I totally agree that the Gob-met is out of control and over paranoid of its own citizens. I also have those same rants; that is why I try not to watch the news anymore. If I read it, I can more easily filter and read between the lines and my wife doesn’t get mad at me.
Tim
When I said, "ATF in a number of situations", I WAS thinking of Ruby Ridge and
Waco. I haven't had a BBR(Belushi Ballistic Rant), for a over a year now...
and I really want to move to the next step up in the program...so I'm being
good. Plastic scissors are useless on mortar...
[/quote]
I was more referring to Clinton vs. Bush thing.
Wow, that sounds a bit dirty.
I totally agree that the Gob-met is out of control and over paranoid of its own citizens. I also have those same rants; that is why I try not to watch the news anymore. If I read it, I can more easily filter and read between the lines and my wife doesn’t get mad at me.
Tim
Fri Mar 09, 2007 8:55 pm
Those look ready to unleash WMD at any second if they made it into the wrong hands!
