Canadian national sentenced for multi-million Russian missile and drone exports

A Canadian national has been given a prison sentence for his part in the export and delivery of millions of dollars in electronics used in Russian weapons systems.

Nikolay Goltsev will serve a forty-month sentence for conspiring with international parties to violate export control. These violations involved companies that support the Russian military and their attempt to breach the regulations and safeguards of the Department of Defense.

His actions in controlling this global production line of electronics would also be used to aid the war effort of Russia against Ukraine in the form of weapons platforms and signal intelligence equipment.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs supported the investigation spearheaded by the BIS, HSI, and FBI.

“Simply put, Russia cannot effectively manufacture advanced weapons without U.S. technology,” said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace for the Eastern District of New York. “Today’s sentence goes a long way in preventing Russia’s access to U.S. electronics for use in the unlawful war against Ukraine.”

Man sentenced for million-dollar military exports.

According to the documents presented at trial, Goltsev had two Brooklyn-based companies, SH Brothers Inc. and SN Electronics Inc., to “unlawfully source, purchase and ship millions of dollars in dual-use electronics from U.S. manufacturers to sanctioned end users in Russia.”

Ukrainian investigators have found the remains of SH Brothers’ electronics and equipment in items deployed by the Russian military. The company allegedly made over $7 million in shipments bound for the Russian frontline technology, such as integrated weapons platforms and signal intelligence solutions.

Goltsev used the likes of Turkey, Hong Kong, India, China, and the United Arab Emirates as placeholder or intermediary locations before they were rerouted to Russia.

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The court documents further showed that the defendant was an experienced trafficker of foreign items and even gave advice to his co-collaborators when hoodwinking the government safeguards in place.

As part of a February 2023 message, he said, “Write something more substantial [to the U.S. company] so that there are no more questions.” The co-defendant responded, “Is it better to provide them with a Chinese end user?,” to which Goltsev stated, “Yes should be ok.”

Approximately $1.68 million has been seized as part of the arrest of Goltsev, with $20,000 being seized in the hotel where the man was arrested.

“Goltsev and his wife thought they would ‘get rich’ by running an illicit global procurement scheme to supply sanctioned end users in Russia,” said Acting Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement Kevin J. Kurland of the Department of Commerce. “Instead, they got jail time.”

Image: Pexels.

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