A citizen of the Republic of Latvia, Oleg Chistyakov, was arrested near Riga for smuggling U.S. aircraft technology to Russia. He remains detained pending extradition to the United States, where he will face charges of violating export control laws.
“The FBI and our partners continue to pursue anyone who aids Russia in its unjust and autocratic behavior or to violate export control laws or any other law for that matter”
Executive Assistant Director Larissa Knapp of the FBI’s National Security Branch
According to the statement of U.S. Department of Justice Oleg Chistyakov, conspired with U.S. citizens Cyril Gregory Buyanovsky and Douglas Edward Robertson
According to the Department of Justice, Chistyakov conspired with two U.S citizens, Cyril Gregory Buyanovsky and Douglas Edward Robertson, to smuggle sophisticated avionics equipment into Russia without proper licenses from the U.S Department of Commerce.
Chistyakov has been charged with one count of conspiracy, two counts of violation of Export Control Reform Act, multiple counts of smuggling goods from the United States, conspiracy to commit international money laundering and two counts of international money laundering. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for conspiracy, 20 years in prison for each Export Control count, 10 years in prison for each smuggling count and 20 years in prison for each money laundering count.
