A BRITISH businessman has been accused of spying and plotting to smuggle sensitive military technology to China.
The FBI claim investigators intercepted phone calls in which John Miller, 63, called Chinese leader Xi Jinping as “The Boss”.
The 63-year-old from Kent is also alleged to have tried to buy military hardware in the US for the People’s Liberation Army.
The items encompassed missile launchers, air defense radars, and Black Hornet “microdrones,” which are capable of flying close to enemy soldiers and infiltrating buildings to scout troop locations.
Among other gear he sought to acquire was a handheld device sanctioned by the National Security Agency of the United States for securely transmitting classified information.
Mr. Miller further proposed concealing a device by attaching it inside a food blender, allowing it to be “shipped using DHL or FedEx to Hong Kong,” as revealed in US court documents.
The FBI said Mr Miller calling Xi “The Boss” showed his “awareness that he was acting at the direction and control of the [Chinese] government”.
He was arrested on April 24 after he was caught in a sting when the ‘arms dealers’ he was negotiating with turned out to be undercover FBI agents.
Mr Miller was on a business trip to Belgrade, Serbia, at the time and is still being held last night facing extradition to the US.
He is accused of conspiring with US-based Chinese national, Cui Guanghai, 43, and if convicted, both men face up to 40 years in prison.
Neighbours at his five-bedroom £1.5million home in Tunbridge Wells described him a “respectable family man”, according to the Mail on Sunday.
