A Central Kentucky man has been charged in an alleged scheme to illegally provide military information to a company in China, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Louisville.

Scott Tubbs, 59, of Georgetown; Phil and Monica Pascoe of Floyds Knobs, Ind.; and a company called Quadrant Mechanics LLC were charged in an indictment unsealed Wednesday, according to a news release from prosecutors.

The charges against them are wire fraud, violations of the Arms Export Control Act and smuggling, the release said.

The indictment alleges that between January 2012 and December 2018, Tubbs, the Pascoes and the company took part in a conspiracy to send about 70 drawings with technical data to a company in China without a license.

The drawings belonged to two U.S. companies and related to end-use items for infrared and thermal-imaging targeting systems and fire-control systems for the U.S. Department of Defense, according to the release.

In addition, the indictment charges that Quadrant Mechanics imported rare-earth magnets produced by a Chinese company and sold them to two U.S. companies which included them in components sold to the government for military use. These components were used in F-16 and F-18 fighter jets, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Under federal law, rare-earth magnets sold to the Department of Defense must be produced in the U.S. or an approved country, and China isn’t on the list, according to the release.

The indictment was unsealed after the three were arrested.

If convicted, the three could face up to 20 years on each of the most serious charges of wire fraud and exporting technical data without a license.

The Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, the Internal Revenue Service, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the Department of Energy’s Office of Inspector General are investigating the case, according to the release.