Major Export Enforcement Cases - Directorate of Defense Trade ...
Major Export Enforcement Cases - Directorate of Defense Trade ...
Major Export Enforcement Cases - Directorate of Defense Trade ...
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The weapons included numerous semiautomatic handguns, rifles, and shotguns. The smuggling<br />
scheme came to light after authorities in China seized a package containing firearms with defaced<br />
serial numbers shipped from Queens, N.Y. Thereafter, U.S. agents traveled to China and<br />
examined the firearms. Using forensic techniques, agents learned that one <strong>of</strong> the seized weapons<br />
had originally been purchased in North Carolina. Among the weapons seized in China were those<br />
Debose provided to his associates for export. On May 20, 2012, Debose was arrested in<br />
Smithfield, N.C., pursuant to a May 17, 2012 criminal complaint charging him with illegally<br />
exporting firearms to China without the required licenses. Lin and another Chinese national Lila<br />
Li, were also arrested and charged in connection with the case in an April 16, 2012 indictment in<br />
the Eastern District <strong>of</strong> New York. This investigation was conducted by ICE, ATF, IRS and BIS<br />
Controlled Microelectronics to Russian Military and Intelligence Agencies – On Oct. 3, 2012,<br />
an indictment was unsealed in the Eastern District <strong>of</strong> New York charging 11 members <strong>of</strong> a<br />
Russian procurement network operating in the United States and Russia, as well as a Houstonbased<br />
export company, Arc Electronics Inc., and a Moscow-based procurement firm, Apex<br />
System L.L.C. ,with illegally exporting high-tech microelectronics from the United States to<br />
Russian military and intelligence agencies. Alexander Fishenko, an owner and executive <strong>of</strong> both<br />
the American and Russian companies, is also charged with operating as an unregistered agent <strong>of</strong><br />
the Russian government inside the U.S. by illegally procuring the microelectronics on behalf <strong>of</strong><br />
the Russian government. The microelectronics allegedly exported to Russia are subject to U.S.<br />
controls due to their potential use in a wide range <strong>of</strong> military systems, including radar and<br />
surveillance systems, weapons guidance systems and detonation triggers. In conjunction with the<br />
unsealing <strong>of</strong> these charges, the Department <strong>of</strong> Commerce added 165 foreign persons and<br />
companies who received, transshipped, or otherwise facilitated the export <strong>of</strong> controlled<br />
commodities by the defendants to its “Entity List.” As alleged in the indictment, between<br />
October 2008 and the present, Fishenko and the other defendants engaged in a conspiracy to<br />
obtain advanced microelectronics from manufacturers and suppliers located in the United States<br />
and to export those high-tech goods to Russia, while evading the government export licensing<br />
system. The microelectronics shipped to Russia included analog-to-digital converters, static<br />
random access memory chips, microcontrollers and microprocessors. The defendants allegedly<br />
exported many <strong>of</strong> these goods, frequently through intermediary procurement firms, to Russian<br />
end users, including Russian military and intelligence agencies, and went to great lengths to<br />
conceal their procurement activities. The investigation uncovered a Russian Ministry <strong>of</strong> <strong>Defense</strong><br />
document designating an Apex subsidiary as a company “certified” to procure and deliver<br />
military equipment and electronics. The FBI recovered a letter sent by a specialized electronics<br />
laboratory <strong>of</strong> Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), Russia’s primary domestic intelligence<br />
agency, to an Apex affiliate regarding certain microchips obtained for the FSB by Arc. The<br />
defendants’ principal port <strong>of</strong> export for these goods was John F. Kennedy International Airport in<br />
New York. In addition to Fishenko, Arc and Apex, the indictment also charges Shavkat<br />
Abdullaev, Lyudmila Bagdikian, Anastasia Diatlova, Viktoria Klebanova, Alexander Posobilov,<br />
Sevinj Taghiyeva, and Svetalina Zagon, who were arrested in Houston on Oct. 2 and Oct 3, 2012.<br />
Three others charged in the indictment, Sergey Klinov, Yuri Savin, and Dimitriy Shegurov, were<br />
based overseas and were not arrested. The investigation was conducted by the FBI, Department<br />
<strong>of</strong> Commerce (BIS), Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) and the IRS.<br />
Military Technical Data and <strong>Trade</strong> Secrets to China – On Sept. 26, 2012, Sixing Liu, aka<br />
“Steve Liu,” a native <strong>of</strong> China with a PhD in electrical engineering who worked as a senior staff<br />
engineer for Space & Navigation, a New Jersey-based division <strong>of</strong> L-3 Communications, was<br />
convicted in the District <strong>of</strong> New Jersey <strong>of</strong> exporting sensitive U.S. military technology to China,<br />
stealing trade secrets and lying to federal agents. The jury convicted Liu <strong>of</strong> nine <strong>of</strong> 11 counts <strong>of</strong><br />
an April 5, 2012 second superseding indictment, specifically six counts <strong>of</strong> violating the Arms<br />
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