North Brunswick Woman Charged With Illegally Exporting Military Information

A North Brunswick woman who owns two defense contracting businesses was charged with illegally transporting military blueprints to India without a license, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced this week.

Hannah Robert, 48, was indicted by a federal grand jury earlier this month on one count of violating the Arms Export Control Act and one count of conspiracy to violate the same act. She remains under home detention pending trial.

Robert, the founder, owner and president of OneSource USA, was contracted with the U.S. Department of Defense to provide defense hardware items and spare parts pursuant to government contracts, Fishman said.

She also opened a second defense contracting company, Caldwell Components Inc., and ran both of them from a residence in Mount Laurel.

She co-owned and operated a company in India named One Source India that manufactured its own defense items from spare parts. She ran this company with a resident of India.

They allegedly conspired to export technical defense drawings for torpedo systems for nuclear submarines, military attack helicopters and F-15 fighter aircraft without obtaining the licenses required by law between June 2010 and December 2012.

She allegedly lied on her contract bids, saying her company was a manufacturer rather than a dealer, and saying she would supply American-made products. She also allegedly subcontracted to other American defense contractors, including in Sussex County and Boca Raton, Florida, Fishman said.

Additionally, after the Department of Defense noted the failure of certain parts sold to them by One Source USA, Robert allegedly supplied false and misleading material certifications and inspection reports. The failure of these parts led to the Department of Defense spending about $150,000 to repair 47 F-15 fighter aircraft.

She and her Indian counterpart, known in the indictment as R.P., sold defense hardware items to other foreign countries, including the United Arab Emirates.

She faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The substantive violation of the Arms Export Control Act is punishable by a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine. The indictment also seeks forfeiture of Robert’s proceeds from the alleged criminal scheme, Fishman said.