International Courant
A suspected Russian intelligence officer pleaded not responsible final week to fees of cash laundering and smuggling American-made electronics and munitions for the Kremlin’s warfare effort in Ukraine.
Vadim Konoshchenok, 48, was extradited from Estonia to america on Wednesday. Federal prosecutors alleged that he has ties to the Russian Federal Safety Service (FSB).
“As alleged, the defendant was a vital participant in a scheme to provide delicate American-made electronics and munitions to additional Russia’s warfare effort and weapons improvement, in violation of U.S. export controls, financial sanctions and different legal statutes,” it stated. American legal professional Breon. Peace.
Konoshcheno pleaded not responsible to the fees towards him in a federal courtroom in Brooklyn, New York and is being held with out bail.
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The Grand Kremlin Palace, left, and the Cathedral of the Annunciation in Moscow, Russia, on Tuesday, February 15, 2022. A Russian intelligence officer is accused of smuggling American-made electronics and munitions on behalf of the Kremlin’s warfare effort in Ukraine. (Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg by way of Getty Pictures)
He was detained by the Estonian authorities on the idea of a federal order issued by the Ministry of Justice. In October 2022, he was stopped by Estonian authorities and located to be touring with 35 totally different semiconductors, hundreds of US-made 6.5mm bullets and different digital elements.
Authorities once more stopped Konoshcenok on November 24, 2022, when he tried to enter Russia with about 20 instances of US-sourced bullets, together with tactical cartridges and .338 army snipers.
After his arrest, Estonian authorities searched a warehouse utilized by Konoshcenok and located about 375 kilos of ammunition.
Konoshchenok was repeatedly stopped by Estonian border officers trying to smuggle tons of of hundreds of American-made and export-controlled shells into Russia, together with 6.5mm, 7mm, .338, and .308 magnum shells, that are additionally generally utilized by snipers as .223 cartridges military-grade, the DOJ stated.
Fox Information Digital has reached out to the Russian Embassy in Washington DC for touch upon the matter, however has not but heard again.
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Konoshchenok and 4 different co-defendants – Yevgeniy Grinin, 44, Aleksey Ippolitov, 57, Boris Livshits, 52, Svetlana Skvortsova, 41 – had been linked to 2 Moscow-based firms, Serniya Engineering and Sertal LLC, which function beneath the path of Russian intelligence to hold out refined electronics and take a look at gear for the Kremlin’s military-industrial advanced.
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers his speech through the Victory Day army parade marking the 78th anniversary of the tip of World Warfare II on Moscow’s Pink Sq.. (Dmitry Astakhov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photograph by way of AP)
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Each firms operated a community of shell firms and financial institution accounts on behalf of the Russian authorities, authorities stated. The US authorities sanctioned Serniya, Sertal, Grinin and a number of other different firms concerned within the plan after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Serniya’s community of purchasers included a number of state-owned protection conglomerates.
Konoshchenok faces as much as 30 years in jail.
Fox Information’ Bradford Betz contributed to this report.
Russian intelligence agent pleads not responsible to supplying US electronics and munitions to Russia
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