US government seeks to seize house of ex-’Top Gun’ accused of training China pilots

The US government goes to court in Sydney seeking to seize the house of ex-’Top Gun’ accused of training China pilots, Daniel Edmund Duggan.

Daniel Edmund Duggan.

The US has moved to seize the country house of the Australian man and former “Top Gun” accused of training Chinese military pilots.

The Australian Federal Police, on behalf of the US government, has lodged an application to restrain the $1.1m house at Saddleback Mountain in NSW that former US military pilot Daniel Edmund Duggan purchased in 2014.

The matter is listed in the NSW Supreme Court on Tuesday morning.

The house, a sprawling rural retreat, was purchased in the name of a Hong Kong-based company owned by Mr Duggan’s wife Saffrine, and was to be the family home of the couple and their six children.

The move by the US to seize the house comes despite Mr Duggan, who has been in custody for more than a year, facing no charges in Australia.

He vehemently denies any wrongdoing in training Chinese pilots through a South African flying academy, and is fighting extradition to the US, with the case delayed until May.

Saffrine Duggan, wife of jailed pilot Daniel Edmund Duggan, outside a Sydney court in July. Picture: NCA Newswire/ Gaye Gerard

The US is seeking a foreign restraining order on the house, alleging it is a property which constituted, or was derived from, proceeds of crime.

The crimes alleged against Mr Duggan include money-laundering and violating US laws relating to the export of armed services, and the provision of military services.

There is no Australian crime that correlates directly with what the US has accused Mr Duggan of doing – a legal distinction that is part of the fiercely contested court dispute over the American bid to extradite him to face charges in the US.

Mr Duggan, a former US Marine pilot, became an Australian citizen years ago and later gave up his US citizenship. He and his wife lived for many years in China.