Latvian Charged With Illegally Sending Plane Parts to Russia
Latvia citizen Oleg Chistyakov appeared in a U.S. court Aug. 21 after being extradited from Latvia to face charges that he violated U.S. export controls by shipping "sophisticated avionics equipment" to Russian companies, DOJ announced.
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Chistyakov allegedly conspired with Cyril Buyanovsky and Douglas Robertson, both of Kansas, to sell, repair and export the avionics equipment to Russian end users for use in aircraft operated by Russian parties in third countries. The two Kansas men both pleaded guilty to export control violations (see 2407030022).
The Latvian man allegedly worked with Buyanovsky and Robertson through his United Arab Emirates-based firm RosAero FAC to skirt export laws and buy the avionics equipment from American companies. Chistyakov allegedly acted as a "broker" for the Americans' company KanRus Trading Co. and Russian customers. Chistyakov and others also hid the shipments by "creating false invoices, transshipping items through third-party countries," such as Germany and the UAE, using third-country bank accounts and exporting goods to intermediaries.
Chistyakov is charged with violating the Export Control Reform Act, and is facing a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine.