Shu Quan-Sheng was born in Shanghai, China, and first entered the United States in March of 1983 to conduct research in ultra-low temperature physics at the University of Washington, in Seattle, WA. Shu became a naturalized U.S. citizen on May 13, 1998 and incorporated AMAC International, Inc. ("AMAC") in Virginia later that year. Shu served as the President, Secretary and Treasurer of AMAC. AMAC was a high tech company that performed research through grants funded by the Small Business Innovative Research program on behalf of the Department of Energy and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration ("NASA"). Through its branch office in Beijing, AMAC facilitated transactions between U.S. and European technology companies as sellers and government entities in the People's Republic of China ("PRC") as buyers. Shu and AMAC entered into a written agency agreement dated December 1, 2003, with French Company A's Division I to be the division's sole representative in the PRC. In that role, Shu was tasked by PRC government entities to facilitate the procurement effort, provide technical expertise, and negotiate price and contract terms.
Sometime between 2003 and early 2006 and prior to the ultimate decision to award a hydrogen liquefaction project to French Company A, Shu, acting as the representative of French Company A, offered payments to PRC officials within the People's Liberation Army's General Armaments Department and the 101st Research Institute ("101 Institute"), which is one of many research institutes that make up the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, as overseen by the Commission of Science Technology and Industry for the National Defense. The purpose of the payments were to induce the PRC officials to award the contract to French Company A over the primary competitor, and to earn Shu and AMAC a commission. The contract for the hydrogen liquefier is believed to total approximately $4 million. In total, Shu made $189,300 in payments to several PRC officials connected to the 101 Institute.
On November 12, 2008, the DOJ filed a three count Information against Shu in the Eastern District of Virginia alleging violations of the Arms Export Control Act as well as violations of the anti-bribery provisions of the FCPA. On November 17, 2008, Shu pleaded guilty to all three counts. On December 18, 2008, as part of his plea agreement with the DOJ, Shu agreed to forfeit $386,740.27, which represented the gross proceeds of the offenses. On April 9, 2009, the court sentenced Shu to 51 months in prison plus 2 years of supervised release after his imprisonment and required Shu to pay a mandatory special assessment of $300.
