A New Jersey man pleaded guilty in a smuggling scheme intended to aid Russia’s war effort

New York – A New Jersey man who was among seven Allegation of smuggling of electronic devices He was convicted Friday of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and other charges in aid of Russia’s war effort, officials said.

Vadim Yarmolenko, 43, faces up to 30 years in prison for his role in an international procurement and money laundering network that provided sensitive information to Russian military and intelligence services, Breon Peace, the U.S. attorney in Brooklyn, said in a statement. Had demanded to acquire electronics.

Yarmolenko, who lives in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey and has dual US and Russian citizenship, was convicted along with six others in December 2022.

Prosecutors said the conspirators worked with two Moscow-based companies controlled by Russian intelligence services to acquire electronic components in the U.S. that are intended for civilian use but could also be used to make nuclear and hypersonic weapons and quantum computing. Can also be done in.

Prosecutors said the export of the technology violated US sanctions.

The prosecution was coordinated through the Justice Department’s Task Force KleptoCapture, an interagency unit dedicated to enforcing sanctions imposed following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said in the statement that Yarmolenko “joins nearly two dozen other criminals who our Task Force KleptoCapture has brought to justice in U.S. courts over the past two and a half years for enabling Russia’s military aggression Is.”

A message seeking comment was sent to Yarmolenko’s attorney from the federal public defender’s office.

Prosecutors said Yarmolenko helped set up shell companies and U.S. bank accounts to move money and export-controlled goods. He said money from one of his accounts was used to buy export-controlled sniper bullets, which were intercepted in Estonia before being smuggled into Russia.

One of Yarmolenko’s co-defendants, Alexey Breiman of Merrimack, New Hampshire, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States and is awaiting sentencing.

Another, Vadim Konoshchenok, a suspected officer of Russia’s Federal Security Service, was arrested in Estonia and extradited to the United States. He was later released from US custody prisoner exchange Which included Wall Street Journal reporter Ivan Gershkovich and other people.

Prosecutors said four other Russian citizens named in the indictment are at large.