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Inter Ordnance Charged With Illegal Importing, Sal
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
Monroe-Based Gun Dealers Charged With Illegal Importing, Sales
POSTED: 9:33 AM EST February 6, 2004
MONROE, N.C. -- A pair of gun-trading brothers face federal charges of illegally importing Russian and Soviet-made machine guns and selling thousands of the weapons across the country.
Oliver and Ulrich Wiegand are charged in an 83-count indictment with crimes including conspiracy, illegal importation of machine guns, illegal possession and transfer of machine guns, and money laundering.
Oliver, 37, and Ulrich, 34, are brothers and German nationals, federal authorities said Thursday. They operate Inter Ordnance, a gun dealership based in Monroe; the charges involve Inter Ordnance and businesses in Witten, Germany, and Ferlach, Austria.
The Wiegands, both of Indian Trail, "reaped a substantial financial profit" from the sales and used the money to "support their extravagant personal lifestyles," according to a federal grand jury indictment issued Tuesday and unsealed Thursday.
Charges against each brother carry maximum penalties totaling 960 years in prison.
"The illegal importation, possession, and transfer of fully automatic machine guns pose a serious risk to law enforcement and other citizens," said U.S. Attorney Bob Conrad.
Ulrich Wiegand was held after an appearance Thursday before a federal magistrate in Charlotte. Oliver Wiegand was believed to be out of the country.
"My client and his company have tried their best to comply with vague ATF guidelines," Oliver Wiegand's lawyer, Chris Fialko, said. "He denies any wrongdoing."
Ulrich Wiegand's attorney could not be reached for comment.
The indictment alleges the brothers concealed the illegal sales of machine guns by referring to them as "parts kits" -- allowing them to evade tax payments, record-keeping requirements, and required background checks of potential customers.
Prosecutors said the brothers used their German and Austrian businesses to illegally import the guns, then sold more than 3,500 of them in parts kits by mail and Internet without background checks or recording ownership registration.
The indictment said the firearms were sold to customers in South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Arkansas, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Kansas, Missouri and Illinois.
But, Fialko said, "The trade groups representing importers of destroyed gun parts kits for gun collectors have been for years asking for clearer guidelines as to how these guns should be cut up properly."
"It appears the ATF has decided to legislate by indictment, instead of issuing proper regulations," he said. "This will be a contest of expert witnesses at trial."
Ulrich Wiegand is also accused of directing Inter Ordnance employees to structure cash deposits into various bank accounts in amounts less than $10,000 to avoid reporting requirements.
The brothers used Inter Ordnance bank accounts to transfer funds to various international accounts to conceal and disguise the company's profits, the indictment said.
Inter Ordnance's Web site tells customers it is a wholesale firearms distributor. The site offers items for sale including weapons and military gear such as a Belgian gas mask and reproductions of German World War II boots and helmets.
Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
http://www.wsoctv.com/news/2826884/detail.html
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878<P>
POSTED: 9:33 AM EST February 6, 2004
MONROE, N.C. -- A pair of gun-trading brothers face federal charges of illegally importing Russian and Soviet-made machine guns and selling thousands of the weapons across the country.
Oliver and Ulrich Wiegand are charged in an 83-count indictment with crimes including conspiracy, illegal importation of machine guns, illegal possession and transfer of machine guns, and money laundering.
Oliver, 37, and Ulrich, 34, are brothers and German nationals, federal authorities said Thursday. They operate Inter Ordnance, a gun dealership based in Monroe; the charges involve Inter Ordnance and businesses in Witten, Germany, and Ferlach, Austria.
The Wiegands, both of Indian Trail, "reaped a substantial financial profit" from the sales and used the money to "support their extravagant personal lifestyles," according to a federal grand jury indictment issued Tuesday and unsealed Thursday.
Charges against each brother carry maximum penalties totaling 960 years in prison.
"The illegal importation, possession, and transfer of fully automatic machine guns pose a serious risk to law enforcement and other citizens," said U.S. Attorney Bob Conrad.
Ulrich Wiegand was held after an appearance Thursday before a federal magistrate in Charlotte. Oliver Wiegand was believed to be out of the country.
"My client and his company have tried their best to comply with vague ATF guidelines," Oliver Wiegand's lawyer, Chris Fialko, said. "He denies any wrongdoing."
Ulrich Wiegand's attorney could not be reached for comment.
The indictment alleges the brothers concealed the illegal sales of machine guns by referring to them as "parts kits" -- allowing them to evade tax payments, record-keeping requirements, and required background checks of potential customers.
Prosecutors said the brothers used their German and Austrian businesses to illegally import the guns, then sold more than 3,500 of them in parts kits by mail and Internet without background checks or recording ownership registration.
The indictment said the firearms were sold to customers in South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Arkansas, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Kansas, Missouri and Illinois.
But, Fialko said, "The trade groups representing importers of destroyed gun parts kits for gun collectors have been for years asking for clearer guidelines as to how these guns should be cut up properly."
"It appears the ATF has decided to legislate by indictment, instead of issuing proper regulations," he said. "This will be a contest of expert witnesses at trial."
Ulrich Wiegand is also accused of directing Inter Ordnance employees to structure cash deposits into various bank accounts in amounts less than $10,000 to avoid reporting requirements.
The brothers used Inter Ordnance bank accounts to transfer funds to various international accounts to conceal and disguise the company's profits, the indictment said.
Inter Ordnance's Web site tells customers it is a wholesale firearms distributor. The site offers items for sale including weapons and military gear such as a Belgian gas mask and reproductions of German World War II boots and helmets.
Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
http://www.wsoctv.com/news/2826884/detail.html
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878<P>
Comments
Patrick Buzzard
Michigan National Guard
19K-- tanker
"Strike Hard!!"
Big Daddy my heros have always been cowboys,they still are it seems
IO has been a sponsor of those boards.
Over there, they are saying that IO has been charged with improperly cutting up the machine guns. They have to be cut into 3 pieces. Supposedly IO did not make the cuts in the exact way prescribed, although they did cut the guns into 3 pieces.
Supposedly ATF got some JB Weld and duct tape and got one of the guns to shoot, at least for a few rounds.
It sounds like a bored ATF agent making a bogus bust.
Somehow, the name Randy Weaver comes to mind.
Patrick Buzzard
Michigan National Guard
19K-- tanker
"Strike Hard!!"