By Pishtaz | 2025-03-26

The United States is offering up to $15 million for information about four Chinese nationals who ran a nearly two-decade operation smuggling sensitive military technology to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its Quds Force.

The reward, announced March 19 by the US State Department's Rewards for Justice program (RFJ), centers on Baoxia Liu (aka Emily Liu, Baoxia Lau, Emily Lau, Baojuan Liu).

Liu and her associates -- Li Yongxin (aka Emma Lee), Yung Yiu Wa (aka Stephen Yung) and Zhong Yanlai (aka Sydney Chung) -- began operating in around 2007.

They created an intricate web of front companies in China to facilitate the illegal transfer of US military-grade electronic components to the Islamic Republic, operating through multiple shell corporations.

Their scheme involved misrepresenting end-users of dual-use US technology to US companies, claiming products would remain in China while actually routing them to Iranian military entities, according to the State Department.

Components were channeled to IRGC-linked companies such as Shiraz Electronics Industries (SEI) and Rayan Roshd Afzar.

Sales fund terrorist activities

The smuggled technology enabled Iran's Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics to develop and manufacture advanced weapons systems, including drones, the State Department said.

Tehran then supplied these weapons to its allies in Russia, Sudan and Yemen.

"The IRGC has financed numerous terrorist attacks and activities globally, including via its external proxies such as Hamas, Hizbullah and Iran-backed militia groups in Iraq," the State Department said.

"The IRGC funds its terrorist activities — in part — through sales of military equipment, including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones," it said.

The IRGC and its supporters have moved millions of dollars globally through this network of front companies, using them to procure cutting-edge technology while evading international sanctions and trade controls, it added.

The US Department of Justice said arrest warrants were issued in January 2024 for Liu and her three co-conspirators, all of whom remain fugitives.

The four are charged with conspiracy, unlawful export of US-origin electronic components with military applications to the Islamic Republic, and sanctions violations, it said.

Tips about their activities, whereabouts, or associated individuals and entities can be provided anonymously via the official website www.rewardsforjustice.net

They can be provided via Signal, Telegram, WhatsApp at +1-202-702-7843, or Tor (Tor browser required) at: he5dybnt7sr6cm32xt77pazmtm65flqy6irivtflruqfc5ep7eiodiad.onion

Since its inception in 1984, the RFJ program has paid over $250 million to more than 125 individuals who provided information leading to the disruption of terrorist organizations and their support networks.