Russian sentenced 10 years in jail for illegal exports

Alexander Fishenko, a dual citizen of the United States and Russia, was given a 10-year prison term and ordered to forfeit more than $500,000 in criminal proceeds following his guilty plea on Sept. 9, 2015 to a 19-count indictment.    The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday said Alexander Fishenko, a dual citizen of the United States and Russia, was sentenced to 10 years in jail and ordered to forfeit more than $500,000 in criminal proceeds following his guilty plea on Sept. 9, 2015 to a 19-count indictment.
   Fishenko pleaded guilty to acting as an agent of the Russian government within the United States, conspiring to export and illegally exporting controlled microelectronics to Russia, conspiring to launder money, and obstruction of justice. 
   The sentencing was announced by the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of New York.
   Fishenko, 10 other individuals and two companies – ARC Electronics Inc. (ARC) and Apex System (Apex) – were indicted in October 2012. Five defendants previously pleaded guilty, three individuals were convicted in October 2015 after trial, and three individuals remain at large. “ARC is now defunct and Apex, a Russian-based procurement firm, failed to appear in court,” the Justice Department said.
   Fishenko started ARC in 1998. Between October 2008 and October 2012, he conspired to obtain microelectronics from manufacturers and suppliers in the United States to export to Russia, while evading U.S. export licensing requirements. The electronics procured by Fishenko have applications used in a range of military systems, including radar and surveillance systems, missile guidance systems and detonation triggers.
   “Russia does not domestically produce many of these sophisticated goods,” the Justice Department said, noting that between 2002 and 2012, ARC shipped about $50 million worth of microelectronics and other technologies to Russia. ARC was a certified supplier of military equipment for the Russian Ministry of Defense.