3 Indicted In Austin For Trying To Send Circuits To Russia

AUSTIN, TX — A federal grand jury has indicted three foreign nationals in connection to a scheme to procure radiation-hardened circuits bound for Russia without required licenses, the justice department announced Friday.

The four–count federal grand jury indictment returned in Austin and unsealed on Friday charges a Russian citizen and two Bulgarian citizens with violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), Export Control Reform Act (ECRA), and a money laundering statute in attempts to secure the sensitive radiation-hardened circuits from the U.S. and ship those components to Russia through Bulgaria without required licenses, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

“Time and again, we find the Russians attempting to get access to sensitive American technology," Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers said in a prepared statement. "The defendants here are charged with exporting radiation-hardened chips to Russia, knowing that it was illegal to do so and establishing a business in Bulgaria to circumvent U.S. enforcement authorities. I am gratified by our whole-of-government response to this flagrant example of U.S. export controls evasion.”

Added Gregg N. Sofer, the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas: “Today’s indictment demonstrates that the United States Attorney’s Office, the Department of Justice and our federal partners will follow those who seek to evade U.S. export enforcement laws wherever our investigations lead. National security remains our highest priority. We must never allow our most sensitive technology to fall into the hands of those who would seek to use it against us.”

Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs categorized the investigation leading to the indictment is part of a mission to protect and defend national security: “Today’s indictment details the efforts our adversaries will make to obtain our sensitive technology and demonstrates that the United States will hold any individuals, organizations, and nations, who willfully violate our export laws accountable," he said .

The indictment accuses Russian national Ilias Sabirov, 48, Bulgarian national Dimitar Dimitrov, 70, and 46-year-old Bulgarian national Milan Dimitrov, 46, of using Bulgarian company Multi Technology Integration Group EEOD (MTIG) to receive controlled items from the U.S. and send them to Russia, according to the justice department advisory. Under U.S. export control law, the goods could not be shipped to Russia without the permission of the U.S. government, officials noted.

According to the indictment, Sabirov is the head of two Russian companies- — Cosmos Complect and OOO Sovtest Comp. — and controls MTIG. Both Dimitar Dimitrov and Milan Dimitrov worked for Sabirov at Cosmos Complect and MTIG, according to justice department officials.

In 2014, officials continued, the men met with the supplier of the radiation-hardened components in Austin and were informed that radiation-hardened circuits could not be shipped to Russia because of U.S. trade restrictions. As a result, officials said Sabirov established MTIG in Bulgaria and bought the controlled electronic circuits. The radiation-hardened properties of these circuits made them resistant to damage or malfunction in the harsh outer-space environment, officials described, and export of the parts was controlled by the U.S. government for those reasons. The parts were shipped to Bulgaria in 2015, according to justice officials, and MTIG soon thereafter shipped them to Sabirov’s companies in Russia. OOO Sovtest Comp. transferred more than $1 million to MTIG for controlled U.S. parts, according to the indictment.

In the same timeframe, MTIG ordered over $1.7 million in other electronic components produced by another U.S. electronics manufacturer at Sabirov's direction, officials said. Sabirov bought these parts to fulfill part of his contract with OOO Sovtest Comp, officials said, and again, the parts were shipped from the U.S. to Bulgaria where they were merely repackaged and onward shipped to Russia.

In late 2018, a Department of Commerce Export Control Officer interviewed Milan Dimitrov during a visit at MTIG to determine whether the radiation-hardened components were still in MTIG’s possession in Bulgaria, officials said, adding that Milan Dimitrov, among other things, fraudulently denied sending the components to Russia.

The indictment charges Sabirov, Dimitar Dimitrov and Milan Dimitrov with two counts related to violations of IEEPA and one count of money laundering. The indictment also charges Milan Dimitrov with one count of false statements to the government. Each count charged in the indictment calls for up to 20 years in federal prison upon conviction.

In conjunction with the unsealing of these charges, officials said, the Department of Commerce is designating Ilias Sabirov, Dimitar Dimitrov, Milan Dimitrov, Mariana Marinova Gargova, MTIG EOOD, Cosmos Complect and OOO Sovtest Comp., adding them to its Bureau of Industry and Security Entity List. Designation on the Entity List imposes a license requirement before any commodities can be exported from the U.S. to these persons or companies and establishes a presumption that no such license will be granted, officials explained.

The Entity List identifies foreign parties that are prohibited from receiving some or all items subject to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) unless the exporter secures a license, according to the advisory. Those persons present a greater risk of diversion to weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programs, terrorism or other activities contrary to U.S. national security or foreign policy interests, officials said. Commerce – Office of Export Enforcement can add to the Entity List a foreign party, such as an individual, business, research institution or government organization, for engaging in activities contrary to U.S. national security and/or foreign policy interests, officials added.