Industry | 2010.08.17
Golf president battles extradition to US for 'selling batteries for Iran missiles'
Christopher Tappin, 63, made £320 from freight deal which he says was unlawful sting by US agents posing as exporters
A retired businessman from London is battling extradition to the US over claims he sold batteries for missiles to Iran in a deal that he says netted him £320 profit.
Christopher Tappin, 63, from Orpington, is the latest Briton to become caught up in the controversial extradition agreement with the US. He could face 35 years in jail if convicted in an American court.
At a press conference today, the Kent county golf union president insisted he was innocent and said he had been the victim of a sting carried out by US agents posing as exporters.
Tappin, who ran a freight forwarding company for 35 years, is accused of "knowingly" plotting to export five batteries for surface-to-air missiles to Tehran.
He admits arranging the shipment of batteries from the US to the Netherlands, but insists he had no idea they were ultimately destined for re-export for the manufacture of Iranian missiles. He said today he had been told the batteries were to be used in the car industry.
He is accused on the basis of evidence from a business acquaintance and a former client, who has already pleaded guilty and received a two-year jail sentence. Tappin\'s lawyers suspect the two may have sought to implicate him under a plea-bargain deal to cut their own sentences.
"I deny these allegations," Tappin said. "I was the victim of the unlawful conduct of US agents who pretended to belong to a false company, known as Mercury Global Enterprises (MGE). It exists solely to ensnare unsuspecting importers."
He had not known that MGE was a front operation for undercover customs agents, set up to entrap those who had an interest in exporting banned items to Iran. He says he became involved via a business contact, Robert Gibson, who said MGE could handle the paperwork on the battery deal.
Tappin says he had no idea the batteries were to be used in the arms trade because MGE assured him they did not need a special export licence.
"When negotiating with me, and when I raised my concerns about the licence agreement, they assured me that \'this would not be a problem\', however the same agents have accused me of being responsible for not obtaining the licences. They misled me by sending me paperwork which clearly stated \'no licence required\'," he said.
The undercover agents also misled him, he said, by telling him that Gibson had been injured in a car accident when he had actually been arrested.
Despite the severity of the possible sentence and reports that each battery was worth £5,000, Tappin insisted today that his commission on the batteries was just $500 (£320).
Tappin\'s case has been taken up by Karen Todner, the solicitor who also represents Gary McKinnon, the alleged computer hacker who faces extradition over allegations he broke into Pentagon computers.
She was unable to attend today\'s press conference, but her spokesman, Ben Seifert, said if Tappin must face trial the case should be heard in Britain where the alleged crimes were committed.
Tappin believed the batteries were for use in the automotive industry, said Seifert: "He never knew they were anything to do with Iran or anything to do with missiles. Tappin has a huge amount of experience in import and export and he assumed that these batteries were for perfectly peaceful and non-military need."
He added: "This is a case in which the customs agents caused the offence to be committed rather than merely providing an opportunity for the defendant to commit it. There would have been no offence at all had the ICE agents not offered to provide batteries to an associate of Mr Tappin and had they not participated in the wholly artificial exercise of offering batteries to his associate for purchase."
He said the agents\' conduct was "misleading and dishonest", adding: "Ultimately the US agents resorted to proactive deceit and told lies in order to attempt to ensnare and entrap a respected British businessman."
Much was made at the press conference of Tappin\'s impeccable credentials. "Mr Tappin is a British citizen who has at all times lived in Britain, where he was educated and conducted his business. He is now 63 years of age and has retired. He is of unblemished good character and has won industry awards for his achievements," said Seifert.
Tappin said he was prepared to face trial in the UK. He believes he will not get a fair trial in the US, and says he needs to care for his wife, who suffers from Churg-Strauss syndrome, a rare autoimmune disease.
Seifert said: "[Tappin\'s] response to the allegations would, were justice to be appropriately done, be comprehensible to a jury of his peers in this country. His defence case could not and would not be transferable 3,000 miles to a jury trial in which, despite the seeming commonality of language, nevertheless relevant culture, education assumptions and context would be entirely alien."
Jo Johnson, the Tory MP for Orpington, has also taken up his case, and has written to the Home Office to ask about the government\'s review into the current extradition agreements. "I do think the 2003 Extradition Act as passed by the last government is in need of reform," he said today.
The full extradition hearing will take place at the City of Westminster magistrates court on 2 September.
For more information, please visit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/aug/17/extradition-iran-batteries-missiles
