According to a Manhattan indictment that was unveiled on Monday, Gal Luft is accused of plotting to violate US sanctions against Iran and trafficking illicit weapons. Luft is a whistleblower and has often charged the Bidens with corruption.

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Who is Gal Luft?

Gal Luft is a 57-year-old dual US-Israeli citizen. He is the co-director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, a think tank based in Washington, D.C. that focuses on energy, security, and economic developments.

Luft is accused of hiring and paying a former senior U.S. government official on behalf of Chinese-based principals in 2016 without filing the necessary paperwork to be recognized as a foreign agent.

A former government worker, who is not named, was allegedly encouraged by Luft to promote Chinese-friendly policies, according to the prosecution. Additionally, they assert that he arranged meetings between Iranian and Chinese energy firm representatives to talk about oil agreements that would defy US sanctions.

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Also, the prosecutors claimed that Luft “conspired with others and attempted to broker illicit arms transactions with, among others, certain Chinese individuals and entities” by acting as a go-between to connect buyers and sellers of “certain weapons and other materials” in defiance of the US Arms Control Act.

Prosecutors allege that he tried to arrange for Chinese companies to sell anti-tank weapons, grenade launchers, and mortar rounds to Libya. He also allegedly pushed for the buyout of bombs and rockets by the United Arab Emirates and the acquisition of unmanned aerial vehicles by Kenya.

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The 57-year-old Luft was detained in Cyprus in February on US charges, but he escaped after being freed on bond and is not currently in US custody. Damian Williams, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, claimed that Luft “engaged in multiple, serious criminal schemes” in a statement.

On February 18, a message from Luft’s Twitter account, which has more than 15,000 followers, stated that he had been detained in Cyprus “on a politically motivated extradition request by the U.S.” Luft claimed in the tweet, “I’ve never been an arms dealer.