Northbrook man receives 1-year sentence for illegally exporting computer tech

A Northbrook man who owned computer companies in Chicago and Pakistan was sentenced to a year in federal prison for illegally exporting to a Pakistani government nuclear research agency.

Obaidullah Syed, 67, was facing up to 20 years in prison before pleading guilty to the charges last year. He was indicted in 2020, according to court records.

Syed admitted that he had violated the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and foreign trade regulations by falsely reporting shipments of computer hardware and software were intended for educational or personal use in Pakistan, when instead they wound up at the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission.

The U.S. government lists the Pakistani agency as "an entity which may pose an unusual or extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy or economy of the United States," according to court papers.

Syed also forfeited nearly $250,000 derived from the sale of the equipment.