Brooklyn Man Pleads Guilty to Shipping Drone Parts to Sanctioned Russian Companies
Brooklyn, New York, resident Nikolay Grigorev pleaded guilty April 30 for his role in a scheme to illicitly export electronic components from the U.S. to companies linked to the Russian military, DOJ announced.
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Grigorev used Brooklyn-based Quality Life Cue -- a company registered by Grigorev and co-defendant Artem Oloviannikov -- to carry out the scheme. The defendants procured elements used in drone manufacturing to aid Russia's war in Ukraine by sending the parts to sanctioned Russian entities, including SMT-iLogic, DOJ said. SMT-iLogic was sanctioned in May 2023 for its role in supplying Russian military UAVs.
From October 2021 to February 2022, Quality Life Cue accounts received $272,830 in wire transactions from SMT-iLogic, which was used to pay a Brooklyn-based electronics distributor or pay for Grigorev's credit cards, which were used to buy goods from the Brooklyn firm, DOJ said. The defendants discussed ways to "circumvent U.S. export restrictions, including through the use of front companies in third countries, such as Kazakhstan, and they also forwarded invoices listing SMT-iLogic as the recipient of semiconductors and other electronic components purchased from the Brooklyn Company."
Grigorev faces a maximum five-year prison stint. Oloviannikov and co-defendant Nikita Arkhipov "remain at large," DOJ said.