Douglas Edward Robertson, 56, of Olathe, Kansas, the former vice president of KanRus Trading Company Inc., pleaded guilty today for his role in a years-long conspiracy to circumvent U.S. export laws by filing false export forms with the U.S. government and continuing to sell and export sophisticated and controlled avionics equipment to customers in Russia without the required licenses from the U.S. Department of Commerce following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
“Robertson, by his own admission, conspired to sell advanced U.S. avionics equipment to Russian customers in violation of U.S. law,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security Matthew G. Olsen. “The Justice Department will not tolerate those who seek to undermine the effectiveness of export controls that protect critical U.S. technology and deter Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.”
“Robertson’s guilty plea is reflective of the strong evidence gathered against him by federal investigators and the solid case presented by federal prosecutors,” said U.S. Attorney Kate E. Brubacher for the District of Kansas. “Our nation is both proud and grateful to these men and women at the Department of Justice who seek to protect the United States and our national security interests from adversaries both foreign and domestic.”
“Those who seek to profit by illegally selling sophisticated U.S. technology to our adversaries are putting the national security of our country at risk and that cannot be tolerated,” said Executive Assistant Director Robert Wells of the FBI’s National Security Branch.
“You might think that smuggling sensitive U.S.-origin technology to Russia, including to their Federal Security Service (FSB), means we’re not in Kansas anymore. Unfortunately, in this case, we were,” said Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement Matthew A. Axelrod.
According to court documents, as part of his guilty plea, Robertson admitted that between 2020 and when he was arrested in March 2023, he conspired with others – including co-defendants Cyril Gregory Buyanovsky of Lawrence, Kansas, and Oleg Chistyakov (aka Olegs Čitsjakovs) of Riga, Latvia – to smuggle U.S.-origin avionics equipment to end users in Russia as well as Russian end users in other foreign countries by knowingly filing false export forms and failing to file required export forms with the U.S. government.
Robertson further admitted that on at least one occasion in 2021, he along with Buyanovsky and Chistyakov smuggled a repaired Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) to the FSB by removing its sticker before sending it for repair within the United States before exporting it back.
Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 when tightened export controls were implemented concerning Russia, Robertson along with co-defendants continued their activities while taking numerous steps such as lying about intended end users; shipping goods through intermediary companies; continuing false filings; using foreign bank accounts outside Russia.
On Dec. 6, 2023 many entities involved were added onto Commerce Department's Entity List imposing specific license requirements on all listed individuals/entities due efforts dismantling Russian procurement networks evading US control/sanctions imposed post-invasion Ukraine response
In December 2023 Buyanovsky pled guilty consented forfeiture over $450K worth avionics equipment/accessories alongside $50K personal judgment
March19th Chistyakov arrested Riga detained pending extradition proceedings
Resulting today’s plea Robertson faces statutory maximum penalty five years prison conspiracy count alongside twenty years each two Export Control Reform Act counts money laundering count Sentencing scheduled Oct third
FBI & Dept Commerce Office Export Enforcement investigating Latvian authorities assisting US Customs Border Protection substantial assistance
Assistant US Attorneys Scott Rask Ryan Huschka District Kansas Trial Attorney Adam Barry National Security Division Counterintelligence Export Control Section prosecuting Justice Dept Office International Affairs valuable assistance Investigation coordinated through Task Force KleptoCapture interagency task force enforcing sanctions/export controls/economic countermeasures response Russian military aggression announced Mar second under leadership Office Deputy AG leveraging tools combat evasion undermining collective actions taken response aggression
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