Three employees of a Houston-based company on Monday became the last of eight conspirators convicted of illegally exporting sensitive electronics to Russia.
Alexander Posobilov, Shavkat Abdullaev and Anastasia Diatlova of Arc Electronics Inc., each face up to 25 years in prison. Posobilov, who was the company’s procurement director, could get up to an additional 20 years on money laundering charges. Abdullaev was the company’s shipping manager and Diatlova was a saleswoman.
Their former boss, owner Alexander Fishenko, admitted to acting as an agent of the Russian government, conspiring to illegally export microelectronics to Russia, money laundering and obstructing justice shortly before the month-long trial began.
All four, along with four previously convicted conspirators, were originally charged in 2012.
“These defendants were key players in a sprawling scheme to illegally export sophisticated technology to Russia,” said U.S. Attorney Robert Capers. “Through lies and deceit, the defendants and their co-conspirators sold over $30 million of microchips, much of which was destined for Russian military and intelligence agencies.”
According to the Justice Department, between October 2008 and October 2012, the eight conspirators illegally shipped analog-to-digital converters, static random access memory chips, microcontrollers and microprocessors to Russia. The components are frequently used in radar and surveillance systems, missile-guidance systems and detonation triggers. Russia has one domestic manufacturer of such components.
During the investigation, authorities discovered a letter to Arc from Russia’s Federal Security Service, the KGB’s successor agency, complaining about defective microchips and demanding replacements.
