Yang Enterprises

Yang Enterprises (YEI) is a Florida technology contractor whose clients include numerous government agencies and corporations. It started off in 1986 as a small company run by a Chinese couple, with the wife Mrs. Li-Woan Yang assuming control in 1993. YEI managed to obtain a massive array of high-level government (including Florida agencies, NASA space centers, and Air Force bases) and corporate (including oil companies, media enterprises, and other tech companies) contracts. This was likely built on the strength of Yang Enterprises' political connections. YEI had on its payroll Tom Feeney, a top Florida legislator and close political ally of the Bush family. Feeney was a member (later Speaker) of the Florida House while serving as the registered lobbyist and corporate counsel for YEI.

The company was thrust into controversy after Clint Curtis, a programmer who had joined YEI in 1998, blew the whistle on its illegal activities. Early on, Curtis witnessed apparent acts of Chinese espionage, such as Mrs. Yang sending information to her brother (deported for spying) in China and illegal alien employee Henry Nee inserting backdoors into government software. In 2000, he became aware of the improper relationship with Feeney, and was even asked by Feeney and Mrs. Yang to write software intended for stealing elections. Curtis soon left to take a job at the Florida Department of Transportation, one of YEI's clients, where he learned from FDOT employee Mavis Georgalis that YEI had been overbilling the agency. Curtis and Georgalis made a report to FDOT Inspector General investigator Ray Lemme about Yang Enterprises. Pressure from the top caused the investigation to be closed, Curtis and Georgalis were fired, and Lemme died under suspicious circumstances after pursuing the case on his own. Curtis made his story known in 2004 through a self-published book and the alternative media.

Ultimately, Yang Enterprises is at the center of several important conspiracies. The company played a role in election rigging, helping a high-level Republican develop a prototype for computerized election theft. YEI's role in Chinese espionage and protection from prosecution is part of the corrupt relationship that Chinese industry and intelligence has with both political parties (see also: the relationship between Arkansas billionaire Jackson T. Stephens and the Riady family). More speculatively, YEI might be connected to the Inslaw affair (it provided software to governments and corporations with wiretapping backdoors, just like PROMIS) and child sex trafficking (it was an IT contractor for Florida's foster care system and allegedly got Henry Nee a false Social Security number from an immigrant trafficking ring in South Georgia).

Employees

Board of directors

• President: Li-Woan Yang (????-present)
• Vice president: Ralph Thompson (????-????), ...

Executives

• CEO: Li-Woan Yang (????-present)
• Executive secretary: Mike Cohen (????-????), Lowell Weaver (????-????)

Programmers

• Clint Curtis (1998-2000)
• Henry Nee (????-????)
• ...

Clients

Corporations

Many of these come from YEI's 2001 list of clients, 2001 list of business partners, and 2017 list of commercial clients.

Fossil fuel industry:

• Exxon
• Shell
• Chevron
• Amoco

Media companies:

• 20th Century Fox (pre 2001-present)
• 3M National Advertising Company (pre 2001-????)
• Walt Disney World Company (pre 2001-present)

Tech contractors:

• Northrop Grumman
• Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC)
• Boeing
• Raytheon
• Ciber
• ICF Kaiser - acquired Trinity Energy, which was run by a "close business associate" of Barry Seal
• EG&G - wholly owned by Carlyle Group from 1999 to 2001, then acquired by URS Corporation in August 2002

Other:

• McDonald's

Federal government

Many of these come from YEI's 2001 list of clients and 2017 list of federal clients.

NASA:

• Kennedy Space Center
• Marshall Space Flight Center - located in Huntsville AL, home to numerous defense contractors and voting system test labs
• Stennis Space Center

US Air Force:

• Patrick Air Force Base
• Cape Canaveral Air Force Base - managing access control card readers
• Offutt Air Force Base - guarding access to the 55th Wing

Other:

• General Services Administration

State government

Many of these come from YEI's 2001 list of clients and 2017 list of state clients.

Florida:

• Department of Transportation (pre 2000-????)
• Department of Children and Families (pre 1998-????) - IT support for HomeSafenet (foster care case management system)
• Agency for Health Care Administration (pre 2001-????)
• Department of Management Services (pre 2001-????)

Controversies

Ray Lemme death

Main article: Ray Lemme

Political connections

• Tom Feeney
• Roy Cales, head of the State Technology Office under Jeb Bush
• Frank Brogan, Lt. Gov. under Jeb Bush
• Tom Barry, FDOT Secretary under Jeb Bush until 2003

Corporate connections

YEI has obtained a massive array of high-level government and corporate contracts over the years. Their corporate clients have included oil companies (like Exxon and Shell), media companies (like 20th Century Fox and the Walt Disney World Company), and more (such as McDonald's). At the same time, they have enjoyed business partnerships with other contractors, such as Northrop Grumman, SAIC, and Ciber. These contractors are much larger and more well-established than YEI, and several of them are connected to the development, adoption, or testing of electronic voting systems.

For Yang Enterprises, a small Florida company with Chinese owners, to acquire all these contracts would be a hard feat to pull off without being politically-connected. As shown above, YEI had political support from Florida government officials that were only one step removed from the Bush family.

See also

• Clint Curtis
• Ray Lemme
• Tom Feeney

External links

• Orlando Sentinel, "KSC MONEY HELPS FUEL COMPANIES", 1995/07/17 (pages 12, 13): "The companies that drink in the Kennedy Space Center contract dollars are the aerospace giants that grow bigger with every merger: Lockheed Martin, Rockwell, McDonnell Douglas, United Technologies. But in that forest of industrial redwoods, some of the money is trickling down to sapling level. Small businesses from subcontractors to tourist-oriented companies are getting their share. [...] EG&G required a trip to Cocoa. Lockheed Space Operations had an office at KSC near the Vehicle Assembly Building, while I-Net was at another part of KSC. Rockwell meant a trip to Cape Canaveral. And McDonnell Douglas was based in Titusville. [...] Yang Enterprises of Oveido was honored as KSC's small woman-owned business of the year for 1994, but it has been "very difficult" getting space dollars, company Marketing Director Ralph Thompson said. "Nobody really wants to open up the doors for anybody," Thompson said. "A lot of the companies do these types of services in-house . . . You've got to get out there, and you've got to kick the doors in and find the business." [...] Yang got its first contract in 1993, when I-Net which used to be a small business hired the three-member company. The I-Net contract has expired, but Yang has contracts with Rockwell and Lockheed, Thompson said. Kennedy business nets Yang about $150,000 a year. "We're up to 18 employees right now," Thompson said."
• Maine Superior Court, YANG ENTERPRISES, INC. v. MAINE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, RAYTHEON COMPANY, "DECISION ON APPEAL", 2001/12/04
• Overall purpose of Yang Enterprises to the Bushes
  • Wayne Madsen, "White House-linked clandestine operation paid for "vote switching" software", 2004/12/07 - describes early history of Yang: "Yang, an engineering and computer services company subcontracted to NASA prime contractors like Lockheed Martin, was founded in 1986 by Dr. Tyng-Lin (Tim) Yang. Granted minority-owned "Section 8A" and woman-owned preferential status by the U.S. government, Yang's clients also include the Florida Department of Transportation (DOT). Yang's President, Li-Woan (Lee) Yang, is Tim Yang's wife. Feeney was the registered agent for another Yang company, Y & H Greens, Inc., a company that was dissolved in 1988 and operated from the Yangs' residence on Merritt Island. The Yangs also serve as co-trustees for an entity called Yang of Merritt Island, Ltd., founded on January 31, 2000, and also run from their residence."; says that Clint Curtis worked on the Electronic Document Management System (EDMS) for FDOT and Project Pipeline Information System for Exxon Mobil's facility in Coral Gables FL; cites Curtis as saying that the Yangs had "unlimited" money that came "mostly" from China; claims anonymous sources at FDOT revealed Feeney pressured the agency to pay YEI for nonexistent software and that Feeney knew YEI employed illegal aliens
  • Christopher Bollyn comment made 2004/12/20 on Brad Friedman, "Raymond Camillo Lemme Obit", 2004/12/07 (Brad Friedman, "'Oviedo Voice' Promises 'Balanced' Feeney Reply to Curtis Charges...", 2004/12/28: "[The Oviedo Voice article writers] describe a meeting they had in their offices with Christopher Bollyn, a reporter for American Free Press."): "The "executive secretary" for Yang, Mike Cohen, needs to be asked a few direct questions, such as: What is a nice Jewish boy like you doing in such a racket? Is Yang Enterprises, Inc. a Mossad front? When I spoke to the editor of the Oviedo Voice, he told me that Mrs. Yang appeared to be just a front."
  • BradBlog discussion of the China angle of Clint Curtis's story - raises two interesting questions: whether this apparent Chinese spy front helped design election hacking software in exchange for US military secrets ("Or maybe it could be that YEI and Nee were owed a favor for their help in designing election-hacking software?"), and whether the purpose of having the Chinese design election hacking software was to protect it from the scrutiny of US laws ("And if vote rigging technology is developed and imported from China, try investigating the Chinese government with a subpoena or a search warrant!")
• Local corruption
  • Brad Friedman, "MSNBC's 'Bloggermann' Blows It Again!", 2004/12/22 - Mrs. Yang received a "Certificate of Appreciation" from the Oviedo Police Department on 2003/01/02 for "generous contribution and continuing support to the members of the Oviedo Police Department"
  • Brad Friedman, "And Speaking of 'Further Ways to Argue Like a 'Conservative''...", 2005/02/25 - the Oviedo Voice owner, Chuck Noles, is allegedly friends with Feeney and ran horrifically biased reporting on the YEI scandal
• Various news
  • Brad Friedman, "Yang Enterprises, Inc. (YEI) Statement Forthcoming!", 2004/12/10 - mentions how Mike Cohen was replaced by Lowell Weaver
• Statement of capabilities, 2015: "Yang Enterprises, Inc. (YEI) was founded as an engineering consulting firm in 1986 by Dr. Tyng-Lin (Tim) Yang. In 1993, Mrs. Li-Woan (Lee) Yang assumed management and ownership of the company. YEI has provided top quality, award-winning services and products in support of the U.S. Space Program/NASA, the Department of Defense, and many Fortune 500 companies."
• Boys Town connection - the organization implicated in Franklin as a source of child prostitutes
  • 2016 Annual Report of Boys Town - under "FRIENDS", indicating a $1,000-$2,499 donation, are "Mr. Tim Yang, FL" and "Yang Enterprises, Inc., FL"
  • Boys Town Central Florida, "Central Florida's Candy Cane 5k Celebrates 10th Anniversary", 2017/01/23 (original link, now 404s): "Boys Town Central Florida held their 10th annual Candy Cane 5k on Saturday, December 10, 2016 at Central Winds Park in Winter Springs. [...] This year’s run was sponsored by Holland Pools, Anderson and Ferrin Attorneys at Law, Synergy Mortgage, Ti’Juana Flats, Yang Enterprises INC., The Canovas Photography, Charter Spectrum, Beers and Gordon Civil Trial Attorneys, Citizens Bank of Florida, Fun Spot America Theme Parks, Garganese, Weiss and D’Agresta Attorneys at Law, M Paul General Contractors, The Law Office of Timothy A. Moran, Orlando Health, Oviedo Car Care, Nemours Children’s Hospital, University Behavioral Center, Waste Pro, Your Oviedo Dentist, Krispy Kreme in Winter Park, Moon-Glade Photography, Oviedo Mall, Race Time Sports, City of Winter Springs, Kiwanis, Darlene Brown Team, First 2 Aid, Look Local Magazine, My House Fitness, Paramount Urgent Care in Oviedo, Synergy Mortgage Powered by The Mortgage Firm and Breeze Entertainment."
  • Webpage for the Boys Town Central Florida location: "The largest campus area outside the Village of Boys Town, Nebraska, Boys Town Central Florida opened in 1986 in Oviedo. The site also works with the state of Florida to combat child abuse and neglect through one short-term Intervention and Assessment center. Community Support​ Services include Children in Need of Services/Family in Need of Services,​ Common Sense Parenting classes, and Project Safe Place, a national program that​ assists at-risk girls and boys in crisis. These programs and services ​touch the lives of 7,600 children and ​families in Central Florida each year." - note that they opened in 1986, the exact year that YEI was founded, in Oviedo FL, the same city
• "YEI's Command and Control Facility Maintenance and Repair Team: USSTRATCOM, 55th Wing, Offutt AFB", date unknown but 2017 or prior: "Yang Enterprises, Inc. was awarded the Command and Control Facility Maintenance and Repair contract for the 55th Wing at Offutt AFB. We are looking for many skilled team members. [...] Job Description: Facility Watchman. Conduct required rounds of facility and monitor alarms on a recurrent basis. Dispatches technicians as required."
• Pyramid Technologies Inc. - appears to be another front for the Yangs
  • Website from late 2007: ..., Company Profile, ...
  • 2007 annual report to the Florida Secretary of State's office