Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, James E. Dennehy, the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), and Jonathan Carson, the Special Agent in Charge of the Office of Export Enforcement of the New York Field Office of the Bureau of Industry and Security of the U.S. Department of Commerce, announced that ZHANNA SOLDATENKOVA and RUSLAN ALMETOV, both Russian nationals, were indicted along with ARTHUR PETROV, a dual Russian and German national, for export control violations, smuggling, wire fraud, and money laundering in connection with their alleged participation in a scheme to procure U.S.-sourced microelectronics subject to U.S. export controls on behalf of a Russia-based supplier of critical electronics components for manufacturers supplying weaponry and other equipment to the Russian military. PETROV, previously charged in a criminal Complaint, was arrested on August 26, 2023, in the Republic of Cyprus at the request of the U.S. and was extradited from the Republic of Cyprus earlier this year. He arrived in the Southern District of New York on August 8, 2024, and was ordered detained. SOLDATENKOVA and ALMETOV are at large. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein.
The indictment can be read here.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Zhanna Soldatenkova and Ruslan Almetov are now charged, alongside previously charged Arthur Petrov, for conspiring to smuggle microelectronics with military applications from U.S. distributors to a Russian company that supplies manufacturers for the Russian military. This Office is committed to exposing the full breadth of such illicit procurement networks and protecting our national security.”
Assistant Director in Charge James E. Dennehy said: “Zhanna Soldatenkova and Ruslan Almetova, along with Arthur Petrov, allegedly conspired to evade export laws as members of an illegal international procurement network to help aid the Russian defense industry. As alleged, by deliberately concealing the true nature of their business, they not only violated the law but ultimately put the national security of our country at risk. The FBI, in concert with our partners, is determined to protect the United States and will hold accountable anyone attempting to harm our nation.”
Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Carson said: “As this action demonstrates, we will work with our domestic and international law enforcement partners to charge alleged violators wherever they may be worldwide. Illegal global procurement networks that prop up the Russian war machine will not be tolerated. That’s why we and our law enforcement partners are working nonstop to ensure that those operating such networks face American justice.”
According to the allegations contained in the Indictment returned in Manhattan federal court:[1]
PETROV is a dual Russian-German national who previously resided in Russia and Cyprus and worked for LLC Electrocom VPK (“Electrocom”), a Russia-based supplier of critical electronics components for manufacturers supplying weaponry and other equipment to the Russian military. SOLDATENKOVA is a Russian national who has resided in Russia and worked for Electrocom. ALMETOV is also a Russian national who has resided in Russia and was the co-founder and served as General Director of Electrocom.
PETROV, SOLDATENKOVA, and ALMETOV operated an illicit procurement network in Russia and elsewhere overseas. More specifically, they fraudulently procured from U.S. distributors large quantities of microelectronics subject to U.S. export controls on behalf of Electrocom. To carry out the scheme, PETROV, SOLDATENKOVA, and ALMETOV used shell companies and other deceptive means to conceal that the electronics components were destined for Russia. The technology that the defendants procured in contravention of export controls had significant military applications and included various types of electronics components of the sort that have been recovered in Russian military hardware on the battlefield in Ukraine, such as Russian guided missiles, drones, and electronic warfare and communications devices.
To perpetrate the scheme, PETROV first acquired the controlled microelectronics from U.S.-based electronics exporters using a Cyprus-based shell company, Astrafteros Technokosmos LTD (“Astrafteros”), which he operated. PETROV procured these sensitive electronics components by falsely representing to the U.S. exporters that Astrafteros was purchasing the items for fire security systems, among other commercial uses, and that the ultimate end-users and destinations of the electronics are companies in Cyprus or other third countries — when in fact the components were destined for Electrocom in Russia, which supplies manufacturers for the Russian military. The microelectronics that PETROV procured as part of the conspiracy included, among other things, microcontrollers and integrated circuits on the Commerce Control List maintained by the Commerce Department and which could not lawfully be exported or reexported to Russia without a license from the Commerce Department. Invoices provided to PETROV by the U.S. distributors expressly noted that these microcontrollers and integrated circuits were subject to U.S. export controls.
To evade these controls, PETROV, SOLDATENKOVA, and ALMETOV worked together to transship the controlled items procured by PETROV using pass-through entities operated by SOLDATENKOVA and ALMETOV in third countries. SOLDATENKOVA and ALMETOV then caused the items to be shipped, sometimes through yet another country, to the ultimate destination: Electrocom in Saint Petersburg, Russia. At all times, PETROV, SOLDATENKOVA, and ALMETOV concealed from the U.S. distributors that they were procuring the controlled electronics components on behalf of Electrocom and that the items were destined for Russia. During the course of the conspiracy, PETROV, SOLDATENKOVA, and ALMETOV procured from U.S. distributors and shipped to Russia more than $225,000 worth of controlled electronics components with military applications.
A table containing the charges and maximum penalties for PETROV, 35, of Russia and Cyprus, SOLDATENKOVA, 36, of Russia, and ALMETOV, 43, of Russia, is set forth below. The maximum penalties are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by a judge.
Charge | Defendants | Maximum Penalties |
|---|---|---|
| Count One: Conspiracy to defraud the United States (18 U.S.C. § 371) | PETROV, SOLDATENKOVA, and ALMETOV | 5 years’ imprisonment |
| Count Two: Conspiracy to violate the Export Control Reform Act (“ECRA”) (50 U.S.C. §§ 4819(a)(1), 4819(a)(2)(A)-G), and 4819(b); 15 C.F.R. §§ 736.2(b)(1), 746.8(a)(1), and 764.2) | PETROV, SOLDATENKOVA, and ALMETOV | 20 years’ imprisonment |
| Count Three: Violation of ECRA (50 U.S.C. §§ 4819(a)(1), 4819(a)(2)(A)-G), and 4819(b); 15 C.F.R. §§ 736.2(b)(1), 746.8(a)(1), and 764.2) | PETROV and SOLDATENKOVA | 20 years’ imprisonment |
| Count Four: Violation of ECRA (50 U.S.C. §§ 4819(a)(1), 4819(a)(2)(A)-G), and 4819(b); 15 C.F.R. §§ 736.2(b)(1), 746.8(a)(1), and 764.2) | PETROV and SOLDATENKOVA | 20 years’ imprisonment |
| Count Five: Violation of ECRA (50 U.S.C. §§ 4819(a)(1), 4819(a)(2)(A)-G), and 4819(b); 15 C.F.R. §§ 736.2(b)(1), 746.8(a)(1), and 764.2) | PETROV, SOLDATENKOVA, and ALMETOV | 20 years’ imprisonment |
| Count Six: Conspiracy to smuggle goods from the United States (18 U.S.C. § 371) | PETROV, SOLDATENKOVA, and ALMETOV | 5 years’ imprisonment |
| Count Seven: Smuggling goods from the United States (18 U.S.C. §§ 554(a) and 2) | PETROV and SOLDATENKOVA | 10 years’ imprisonment |
| Count Eight: Smuggling goods from the United States (18 U.S.C. §§ 554(a) and 2) | PETROV and SOLDATENKOVA | 10 years’ imprisonment |
| Count Nine: Smuggling goods from the United States (18 U.S.C. §§ 554(a) and 2) | PETROV, SOLDATENKOVA, and ALMETOV | 10 years’ imprisonment |
| Count Ten: Conspiracy to commit wire fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1349) | PETROV, SOLDATENKOVA, and ALMETOV | 20 years’ imprisonment |
| Count Eleven: Conspiracy to commit money laundering (18 U.S.C. §§ 1956(h), 1956(f)) | PETROV, SOLDATENKOVA, and ALMETOV | 20 years’ imprisonment |
Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI and its New York Field Office, Counterintelligence Division and the New York Field Office of the Bureau of Industry and Security of the Department of Commerce. Mr. Williams also thanked the FBI’s Legal Attaché offices in Poland, Germany, and Athens, Greece; the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, Counterintelligence and Export Control Section; the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs; the Republic of Cyprus Ministry of Justice and Public Order; and the Law Office of the Republic for their assistance. The Republic of Cyprus National Police also provided critical assistance in effecting the defendant’s arrest and detention at the request of the U.S.
This prosecution is coordinated through the Justice Department’s Task Force KleptoCapture and the Justice and Commerce Departments’ Disruptive Technology Strike Force. Task Force KleptoCapture is an interagency law enforcement task force dedicated to enforcing the sweeping sanctions, export restrictions, and economic countermeasures that the U.S. has imposed, along with its allies and partners, in response to Russia’s unprovoked military invasion of Ukraine. The Disruptive Technology Strike Force is an interagency law enforcement strike force co-led by the Departments of Justice and Commerce designed to target illicit actors, protect supply chains, and prevent critical technology from being acquired by authoritarian regimes and hostile nation states.
This case is being handled by the Office’s National Security and International Narcotics Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Sullivan is in charge of the prosecution, with assistance from Trial Attorney Maria Fedor of the Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.
The charges in the Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Indictment and the description of the Indictment set forth herein constitute only allegations, and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.
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