The federal government is seeking to seize the Maui home of a man accused of selling secrets to foreign countries about the B-2 stealth bomber.

A complaint was filed in U.S. District Court yesterday against Noshir and Cheryl Lynn Gowadia, asking that a judge approve the forfeiture of the Gowadias' Ha'iku home. In the complaint, Assistant U.S. Attorney Ken Sorenson alleged that Noshir Gowadia bought the land and built the home with money he made illegally.

Gowadia, 61, is a former engineer for a defense contractor who billed himself as the "father" of the B-2 stealth bomber's propulsion system. Gowadia was a design engineer for Northrop Corp. and later a subcontractor at Los Alamos National Laboratories in New Mexico.

In court documents, the government said Noshir Gowadia has told investigators he "disclosed classified information and material both verbally and in papers, computer presentations, letters and other methods to individuals in foreign countries with the knowledge that information was classified." Gowadia is accused of providing eight countries with stealth secrets.

He has been charged with one count of "willfully communicating national defense information to a person not entitled to receive it." Gowadia is being held without bail at the Federal Detention Center near Honolulu International Airport.

If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The Gowadias could not be reached for comment.

In the complaint filed yesterday, Sorenson said money made through the sale of the stealth information was paid to corporations set up by Gowadia in foreign countries "for the purpose of laundering monies." One of the companies, NTech-E, is based in Switzerland, and the other, NTech-A, is in Australia, Sorenson said in the complaint.

In April 1999, Gowadia began the process of buying the land at 575 North Holokai Place for about $330,000. A month later, Sorenson said, Gowadia wired $109,000 from one of his foreign bank accounts and deposited it into escrow for himself.

From May 1999 to September 2004, Gowadia wired more than $660,000 to his personal accounts, another company formed by Gowadia, or third-party vendors to build and furnish the home, Sorenson said.

"These funds were wired from offshore accounts controlled by Gowadia, which contained funds derived from Gowadia's unlawful communication of classified information," Sorenson said.

Because the home was paid for with money Gowadia obtained illegally, Sorenson said, the property is subject to federal forfeiture laws.

Reach Curtis Lum at culum@honoluluadvertiser.com.