At an upmarket residential development in a leafy Singapore neighborhood, there is little sign of a couple indicted by US justice authorities over the illegal sale of aircraft parts to Iran.
British-born Brian Woodford has not been seen at his home in the city-state for a year or more, his housesitter said on the telephone yesterday.
"He is not here. He don't live here anymore," said a woman with a Filipino accent who answered the phone at his Singapore home.
She said Woodford had not been there since last year or two years ago.
Woodford runs the Singapore-based Monarch Aviation Pte with his wife, Laura Wang-Woodford. In January 2003, a New York grand jury returned a 20-count indictment against the couple that was under seal until late last year, according to the US network ABC News, which broke the story on Thursday.
Wang-Woodford, a Singaporean resident and US citizen, was arraigned on Friday in a New York court on the indictment, the US Department of Justice said.
A director of the lucrative Singapore-based import-export business, she was arrested in December as she entered the US, the justice department said.
Monarch Aviation allegedly exported military aircraft parts from US suppliers to Singapore without proper licenses.
It also allegedly resold commercial aircraft parts illegally to a firm in Tehran, in violation of a US law barring certain transactions of that kind.
Wang-Woodford pleaded not guilty at her arraignment on Friday and was ordered to be held without bail. She left Singapore on Dec. 18 and spent five days in China before traveling to the US, the justice department said.
At the Singapore condominium, a wooden crucifix hangs on the double front doors and a plaque beside them reads, "Brian and Laura Woodford."
The ground-floor unit opens onto an outdoor patio where a glass-topped dining table sits ready with candles on it. A bush beside the doors is decorated with Chinese ornaments.
The middle-aged house-sitter said she did not know how to contact Brian Woodford or where he had gone.
Monarch has been in business in Singapore for more than 15 years and "is known to have exported goods worth millions of dollars," said a letter submitted by US attorneys to the presiding US District Court judge.
The company's office is listed as on the 25th floor of an office block in the heart of Singapore's prime Orchard Road district, but it now appears abandoned.
At the time of her arrest, Wang-Woodford was carrying merchandise catalogs from a Chinese company that is listed as a proliferator of weapons of mass destruction by the US Treasury Department, the US indictment said.
Items advertised in the catalogs included surface-to-air missile systems and rocket launchers, the indictment said.
Seven people sustained mostly minor injuries in an airplane fire in South Korea, authorities said yesterday, with local media suggesting the blaze might have been caused by a portable battery stored in the overhead bin. The Air Busan plane, an Airbus A321, was set to fly to Hong Kong from Gimhae International Airport in southeastern Busan, but caught fire in the rear section on Tuesday night, the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said. A total of 169 passengers and seven flight attendants and staff were evacuated down inflatable slides, it said. Authorities initially reported three injuries, but revised the number
‘BALD-FACED LIE’: The woman is accused of administering non-prescribed drugs to the one-year-old and filmed the toddler’s distress to solicit donations online A social media influencer accused of filming the torture of her baby to gain money allegedly manufactured symptoms causing the toddler to have brain surgery, a magistrate has heard. The 34-year-old Queensland woman is charged with torturing an infant and posting videos of the little girl online to build a social media following and solicit donations. A decision on her bail application in a Brisbane court was yesterday postponed after the magistrate opted to take more time before making a decision in an effort “not to be overwhelmed” by the nature of allegations “so offensive to right-thinking people.” The Sunshine Coast woman —
BORDER SERVICES: With the US-funded International Rescue Committee telling clinics to shut by tomorrow, Burmese refugees face sudden discharge from Thai hospitals Healthcare centers serving tens of thousands of refugees on the Thai-Myanmar border have been ordered shut after US President Donald Trump froze most foreign aid last week, forcing Thai officials to transport the sickest patients to other facilities. The International Rescue Committee (IRC), which funds the clinics with US support, told the facilities to shut by tomorrow, a local official and two camp committee members said. The IRC did not respond to a request for comment. Trump last week paused development assistance from the US Agency for International Development for 90 days to assess compatibility with his “America First” policy. The freeze has thrown
PINEAPPLE DEBATE: While the owners of the pizzeria dislike pineapple on pizza, a survey last year showed that over 50% of Britons either love or like the topping A trendy pizzeria in the English city of Norwich has declared war on pineapples, charging an eye-watering ￡100 (US$124) for a Hawaiian in a bid to put customers off the disputed topping. Lupa Pizza recently added pizza topped with ham and pineapple to its account on a food delivery app, writing in the description: “Yeah, for ￡100 you can have it. Order the champagne too! Go on, you monster!” “[We] vehemently dislike pineapple on pizza,” Lupa co-owner Francis Wolf said. “We feel like it doesn’t suit pizza at all,” he said. The other co-owner, head chef Quin Jianoran, said they kept tinned pineapple
RSS