US Subsidiary of Russian Supplier, Employees Charged With Export Control Violations
DOJ charged an Ohio-based subsidiary of a Russian aircraft parts supplier and three of its current and former employees with illegally exporting aircraft parts from the U.S. to Russia and Russian airline companies, DOJ announced.
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The indictment, unsealed Feb. 13, alleges that after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Flighttime Enterprises and employees Daniela Friery, Pavil Iglin and Marat Aysin "knowingly and willfully violated and evaded the export restrictions imposed on Russia to ship aviation parts to Russia." They allegedly mislabeled shipments, provided U.S. authorities with "false certifications" and used intermediary companies and countries to hide the true end-users and end destination.
DOJ highlighted four specific exports totaling over $2 million, one of which was for an auxiliary power unit from an unnamed U.S. supplier worth $395,000. Aysin, a U.S. legal permanent resident residing in Florida, told the supplier that the part would be used to replenish stock in Ohio, where one of Flighttime's two U.S. offices is located. Through Aysin, Iglin -- a Russian citizen residing in Florida on a non-immigrant visa -- allegedly "signed and dated a Russia end-user certificate with the supplier falsely certifying that the part would not be exported to Russia," DOJ said. The part was then sent to Russia without the required license.
The company and three employees are each charged with one count of conspiring to violate the Export Control Reform Act and multiple counts of violating the ECRA, each of which comes with a maximum 20-year prison sentence, DOJ said. The defendants also face charges of conspiracy to commit smuggling, which has a five-year maximum prison sentence; various smuggling counts, which carry 10-year maximum prison penalties; and one count each of conspiring to launder monetary instruments, punishable by a maximum 10-year prison sentence.