Gowadia, 66, who was born in India but is a naturalised US citizen, is charged with 17 counts of espionage, conspiracy, money laundering and tax offences. His trial began on Tuesday in a Federal court in Honolulu, Hawaii, and is expected to last until mid-July.
Prosecutors allege Gowadia sold classified US defence secrets about the sophisticated B-2 stealth bomber to China for less than $85,000, but defence attorney argued US Air Force had already released the information.
Assistant US Attorney Kenneth Sorenson said Gowadia was “desperate” for money when he approached the Chinese government in 2003, offering to sell them top-secret American stealth technology used to block detection of missiles and warplanes.
Published 15 April 2010, 15:43 IST