Israeli National Pleads Guilty to Illegally Exporting Aircraft Parts to Russia
Gal Haimovich, an Israeli national, pleaded guilty Sept. 9 to conspiracy to commit export control and smuggling violations for his part in a scheme to ship aircraft parts and avionics equipment from the U.S. to Russia, DOJ announced. Haimovich admitted to "deceiving U.S. companies about the true destination of the goods at issue" and attempting to hide the scheme by submitting false information in export documents submitted to the U.S. government.
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Haimovich agreed to forfeit more than $2 million that he earned from the scheme. He will be sentenced Nov. 22.
Haimovich owned an international freight forwarding company that worked with individuals and entities "seeking to illegally export goods to Russia in violation of U.S. export control laws," DOJ said. From March 2022 to May 2023, he oversaw the export of goods, including items with missile technology applications, from the U.S. through Florida, to "various third-party trans[s]hippers on behalf of Russian customers."
From April 2022 to April 2023, after the U.S. imposed more export controls on Russia due to its invasion of Ukraine, Haimovich "arranged for more than 160 shipments to companies in the Maldives and United Arab Emirates that were responsible for the illicit transshipment of the goods to Russia," DOJ said. Haimovich admitted to billing Russian customers over $2 million to have aircraft parts and avionics sent to Russia.