“The Department of Justice and our international partners will not tolerate criminal schemes to bolster the Russian military’s war efforts,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a statement.
Seven suspects, including residents from New Hampshire and New Jersey, have been charged by the Department of Justice for an alleged Russian smuggling ring, according to reports.
Alexey Brayman of New Hampshire is one of seven defendants charged in a 16-count indictment which was released Tuesday by the Department of Justice. He is accused of participating in an international scheme to transport American products to Russia through countries including Estonia, Finland, Germany and Hong Kong, in violation of federal law, according to CBS News.
Vadim Yermolenko of New Jersey was also one of the defendants charged in the indictment, according to the Department of Justice.
From 2017 through at least the spring of 2022, Yevgeniy Grinin, Aleksey Ippolitov, Boris Livshits, Svetlana Skvortsova, Vadim Konoshchenok, Yermolenko and Brayman allegedly used shell companies, fake addresses and counterfeit shipping labels to transport the equipment to Russia, according to the indictment by the Department of Justice.
“The Department of Justice and our international partners will not tolerate criminal schemes to bolster the Russian military’s war efforts,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a statement. “With three of the defendants now in custody, we have disrupted the procurement network allegedly used by the defendants and Russian intelligence services to smuggle sniper rifle ammunition and sensitive electronic components into Russia. The Justice Department will continue to vigorously enforce our economic sanctions and export controls against those who enable the Russian government to continue its unjust war in Ukraine.”
“As alleged, the defendants perpetrated a sophisticated procurement network that illegally obtained sensitive U.S. technology to facilitate the Russian war machine,” United States Attorney Breon Peace added. “Our Office will not rest in its vigorous pursuit of persons who unlawfully procure U.S. technology to be used in furtherance of Russia’s brutal war on democracy.”
Brayman and Yermolenko were arrested recently, while Konoshchenok was detained in Estonia in early December and is awaiting extradition to the United States, according to the Department of Justice.
Brayman surrendered to the FBI and was released Tuesday after posting $150,000 in bond. It remains unclear if he has entered a plea.
Inside Edition Digital has reached out to his attorney for comment on this story and has not heard back.
His attorney, David Lazarus, did issue a statement to CBS News and said, “At this stage Mr. Brayman has only been charged, he has not been convicted of anything. Like all defendants, Mr. Brayman is entitled to the presumption of innocence.”
Yermolenko was arrested in New Jersey and was also released on bond. Yermolenko pleaded not guilty.
Inside Edition Digital has reached out to Yermolenko’s attorney for comment on this story and has not heard back.
The five other suspects, who are Russian nationals, remain at large.
Inside Edition Digital has reached out to the Department of Justice for comment on this story and has not heard back.
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