Russian national facing multiple charges of illegal gain of U.S. electronics

Kosmachov has been extradited to the United States from Estonia to face the charges. According to the indictment filed September 21, 2017, and unsealed this week, Kosmachov, a Russian national and naturalized citizen of Estonia, served as owner of Adimir OU and co-owner of Eastline Technology OU, along with co-defendant and Russian national Sergey Vetrov. According to the indictment, Kosmachov and Vetrov used Estonia-based companies as procurement “fronts” to obtain controlled U.S.-origin microelectronics, in part by misrepresenting that the end-users for the components were located in Estonia. The components included dual-use programmable computer chips capable of operating in austere environments making them useful in both civilian and military applications. Once in possession of the chips in Estonia, the co-defendants allegedly later smuggled them into the Russian Federation, in part by using laundered funds, according to the press release. The charges include charges against the defendants and their two companies that include one count of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and one count of conspiracy to commit international money laundering. In addition, Kosmachov and Vetrov are charged with 12 substantive counts of violating the IEEPA, 19 counts of smuggling, and 17 counts of international money laundering. If convicted, Kosmachov could face a maximum 20-year term of imprisonment for each IEEPA and money laundering-related count, and a maximum 10-year sentence for each count of smuggling. Additional periods of supervised release, fines, and special assessments also could be imposed.