Five individuals and three companies charged with attempted sanctions evasions

On December 3, 2019, the US Department of Justice announced the unsealing of an October 1, 2019 indictment charging five individuals and three companies with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering.  Oleg Vladislavovich Nikitin; Nikitin’s Russia-based company KS Engineering; KS employee Anton Cheremukhin; Gabriele Villone; Villone’s Italian-based company GVA International Oil and Gas Services; and GVA employee Bruno Caparini are charged with violating and conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), 50 USC §§ 1701-1706 (for conduct before August 13, 2018), the Export Control Reform Act (ECRA), 50 USC § 4801 et seq. (for conduct after August 13, 2018), and Department of Commerce licensing requirements.  These defendants, along with Dali Bagrou and Bagrou’s US-based company, World Mining and Oil Supply, are also charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.  The superseding indictment alleges that the defendants arranged to purchase and export a power turbine designed for high power gas compressors, for use in exploration for, or production of, oil or gas in Russian deep water or Arctic offshore locations, falsely claiming that the turbine would be used in a sugar factory in Russia, while knowing that it would be delivered to a company on the Bureau of Industry and Security Entity List for use as part of a turbo-generator on the Prirazlomnaya Marine Ice-Resistant Stationary Platform, which, in the absence of an export license, would violate export regulations.  According to the indictment, the defendants transferred funds from Poland to the US as part of their conspiracy to violate the Export Administration Regulations.

SDGA press release | Indictment