Four people were arrested this week in the Eastern District of New York and charged with conspiring to illegally export controlled dual-use technology.
A Brooklyn man and two Russian-Canadian nationals were arrested in New York in connection with a complex global acquisition scheme in which the defendants used two Brooklyn-based corporate entities to illegally purchase millions of dollars in electronics on behalf of from Russian clients, including associated companies. with the Russian army. Some of the electronic components and integrated circuits shipped by the defendants bear the same makes, models and part numbers that were found on Russian military platforms and electronic intelligence equipment captured in Ukraine.
The indictment alleges an illegal export scheme to purchase dual-use electronic components for Russian companies developing and manufacturing drones for Russian military operations against Ukraine.
“Russia relies on critical technologies to wage its illegal war in Ukraine, and the Department of Justice will use all of its legal tools and authority to deny them these technologies,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco.
“Protecting American technology and enabling innovation from foreign adversaries is critically important to America’s national security,” said FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate.
“Over the past two days, the Department of Justice and its law enforcement partners have arrested and charged several individuals accused of orchestrating complex schemes to illegally acquire, conceal and ship U.S. electronic components for the Russian defense industry,” he said. Deputy Attorney General Matthew Olsen. of the Department of Homeland Security of the United States Department of Justice.
According to court documents, Nikolai Goltsev and Kristina Puzyreva, both of Canada, and Salimjon Nasriddinov of Brooklyn are accused of a scheme to evade sanctions and export controls in which millions of dollars worth of goods were illegally exported to Russia through from two companies in Brooklyn.
During the period covered by the complaint, SH Brothers made hundreds of shipments totaling more than $7 million to Russia.
St. Petersburg residents Nikita Arkhipov and Artem Olovyannikov, and Nikolai Grigoriev, of Brooklyn, are charged with conspiracy and other crimes related to an export control scheme that benefits companies linked to the Russian military.
Grigoriev was arrested today. Arkhipov and Olovyannikov remain at large.
According to the lawsuit, the defendants knew that the exported electronic products had potential military applications. For example, during a November 2022 exchange between Nasriddinov and Goltsev, Goltsev said the shipment to Russia had become “dangerous” and discussed the situation with a shipment of electronic components that was detained by employees at John F. Kennedy.
Nasriddinov responded that “Ukrainians claim that they are being bombed with (American-made) weapons, maybe that’s why they started investigating everything?”
Goltsev responded that “we have to understand why they keep holding the package… I really don’t understand how they found out.”
As alleged in the indictment and other court documents, the defendants used a corporate structure, Quality Life Cue LLC, to facilitate an illegal export control scheme. QLC was registered in Brooklyn and controlled by Grigoriev and Olovyannikov, and Arkhipov used a QLC email from Russia. Through QLC, the defendants purchased dual electronic components, including semiconductors, for organizations in Russia involved in military operations in Ukraine.
