Case of the Computer Smuggler

West German Businessman Richard Mueller has been helping the Soviet Union to obtain modern electronic gear for more than a decade. In 1981 he was placed on a Government list of forbidden high-technology customers. But that did not stop Mueller from buying two brand-new VAX 11-780 minicomputers and other equipment made by Digital Equipment Corp. of Maynard, Mass., between 1981 and 1983. The purchases were made from DEC'S West German subsidiary through a firm Mueller controlled called Deutsche Integrated Time.

U.S. officials assume but cannot prove that the missing VAX computers, which can be used to track missiles, reached the Soviet Union. Nonetheless, DEC was fined $1.5 million last week for violating the Export Administration Act. The Government said that the company should have known that Mueller, whose name appeared on his company's documents, was behind the deals. DEC denied any wrongdoing and said it had been victimized by a "notorious computer smuggler." The fine will be reduced by $400,000 if DEC's West German subsidiary does not commit any additional export violations in the next three years.