Businessman Admits to Fraud in Illegal Shipments to Libya

Francis George Christie, a Scottish businessman who channeled petrochemical equipment made at a San Diego firm to Libya in violation of a U.S. trade embargo, pleaded guilty Monday in federal court in San Diego to conspiring to defraud the federal government.

In an arrangement with the government, Christie agreed to plead guilty to one count of fraud and to cooperate with authorities in building a case against a Louisiana couple from whom Christie and his partners allegedly bought oil field equipment for shipment to Libya.

Ten Counts Dropped

In return, 10 other counts against Christie were dropped.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Phillip Halpern also will recommend that Christie be given less than the maximum five-year prison sentence and $250,000 fine. The exact terms of the recommendation will depend, in part, on how helpful Christie is in the case against Cheryl and George Smith of Gretna, La., the operators of Oil Patch Services Inc.

The Smiths’ trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 29 in San Diego.

Following terrorist attacks in the Rome and Vienna airports, which the Reagan Administration blamed on Libyan leader Col. Moammar Kadafi, the President issued an executive order 18 months ago banning virtually all contact between American companies and Libya.

Federal officials say that the Smiths used Oil Patch to buy petrochemical equipment from various U.S. companies--including Pratt & Whitney Co. and San Diego-based Solar Turbines--to send to Christie’s company in Scotland, which in turn sold the equipment to a state-owned oil company in Libya.

Tipped off by Solar Turbines, the U.S. Customs Service had an agent posing as an employee of the company lure Christie to the United States in January with the enticement of a $5-million to $7-million equipment deal with Oil Patch.

Federal agents arrested Christie in New Orleans on Jan. 8.