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Russian citizen sentenced to 10 years in US jail for illegal exports

Alexander Fishenko, a dual Russian and U.S. citizen, was found guilty of illegal exports of microelectronics to Russia, money laundering and obstruction of justice

WASHINGTON, July 21. /TASS/. A U.S. court on Thursday issued a sentence for ten years in jail to Alexander Fishenko, a dual Russian and U.S. citizen, who was found guilty of illegal exports of microelectronics to Russia, money laundering and obstruction of justice, the Department of Justice said in a press release.

Fishenko pleaded guilty to acting as an agent of the Russian government, "conspiring to export and illegally exporting controlled microelectronics to Russia, conspiring to launder money and obstruction of justice," the report claimed.

The sentence was announced by Assistant Attorney General for National Security John P. Carlin and U.S. Attorney Robert L. Capers of the Eastern District of New York.

The DoJ quoted Assistant Attorney-General Carlin, who claimed that "(…) Fishenko illegally shipped millions of dollars of high-technology products to Russian military affiliated actors in clear violation of the U.S. law."

"Between approximately October 2008 and October 2012, Fishenko led a conspiracy to obtain advanced, technologically cutting-edge microelectronics from manufacturers and suppliers located within the United States and to export those high-tech goods to in Russia while evading the government licensing system set up to control such exports," the report said.

It alleged further that these commodities "(…) have applications and are frequently used in a wide range of military systems, including radar and surveillance systems, missile guidance systems and detonation triggers."

The DoJ also surmised that Russia does not domestically produce many of these sophisticated goods.

In said in addition to it that many customers of the company ARC, which Fishenko founded in 1998 while serving as an executive at Apex Systems LLC and which shipped approximately $ 50 million of microelectronics to Russia between 2002 and 2012, were certified contractors of the Russian Defense Ministry.

"To induce manufacturers and suppliers to sell these high-tech goods to ARC and to evade applicable export controls, Fishenko and his co-conspirators provided false end-user information in connection with the purchase of the goods, concealed the fact that they were exporters and falsely classified the exported goods on export records submitted to the Department of Commerce," the DoJ said.

Fischenko, another ten individuals, ARC Electronics Inc. and Apex Systems LLC were indicted in October 2012.

"Five defendants previously pleaded guilty, three individuals were convicted in October 2015 after trial and three individuals remain at large. ARC is now defunct and Apex, a Russian-based procurement firm, failed to appear in court," the report said.

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