Bulgarian national extradited to the US for violating export controls.

Milan Dimitrov, a Bulgarian national, initially appeared in a US court following his extradition from Greece.

Dimitrov allegedly conspired “to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and the Export Control Reform Act (ECRA)” alongside co-conspirators Ilias Sabirov and Dimitar Dimitrov (who both have been charged but currently remain at large).

The three are accused of running a procurement scheme, exporting “sensitive radiation-hardened integrated circuits” from the US to Russia through Bulgaria without the requisite licences.

The US Department of Justice has released a press release with further details of the alleged scheme.

LONG READ

The Defendant and His Co-Conspirators Used a Bulgarian Company to Transship Radiation-Hardened Integrated Circuits to Russia

After being extradited from Greece, Bulgarian national Milan Dimitrov, 50, appeared in a federal court in San Antonio today, Monday, August 12, 2024

According to court documents, Milan Dimitrov allegedly conspired with Ilias Sabirov, 52, of Russia, and Dimitar Dimitrov, 74, of Bulgaria:-

• TO violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and the Export Control Reform Act (ECRA)
• In a scheme to procure sensitive radiation-hardened integrated circuits from the United States and illegally export those components to Russia through Bulgaria without the required licenses from the U.S. government.

The indictment alleges that between May 2014 and May 2018, the defendants used the Bulgarian Multi Technology Integration Group EEOD (MTIG) to receive export-controlled items from the United States and transship them to Russia without the required licenses.

According to the indictment, Sabirov heads two Russian companies —

• Cosmos Complect and
• OOO Sovtest Comp. — and controls MTIG.

Both Dimitar and Milan Dimitrov worked for Sabirov at Cosmos Complect and MTIG.

As alleged, in 2014,

• The defendants met with the supplier of the radiation-hardened circuits in Austin, Texas. They were informed that radiation-hardened circuits could not be shipped to Russia because of U.S. trade restrictions.
• Sabirov then established MTIG in Bulgaria to purchase the controlled electronic circuits, which did not require a license for export to Bulgaria.
• The radiation-hardened properties of these circuits made them resistant to damage or malfunction in the harsh outer space environment. The circuits were controlled for export to Russia for these very reasons. The parts were shipped to Bulgaria in 2015, and MTIG transhipped them to Sabirov’s companies in Russia. OOO Sovtest Comp. transferred over $1 million to MTIG for the parts.
• In the same timeframe, MTIG — at Sabirov’s direction — ordered over $1.7 million in other electronic components produced by another U.S.-based electronics manufacturer. MTIG bought these parts to fulfil part of its contract with OOO Sovtest Comp. Again, the parts were shipped from the United States to Bulgaria, where they were merely repackaged and then shipped to Russia.

In late 2018,

• A Department of Commerce Export Control Officer interviewed Milan Dimitrov during a visit to MTIG to determine whether the radiation-hardened components were still in MTIG’s possession in Bulgaria. Among other things, Milan Dimitrov falsely denied sending the components to Russia.
• Milan Dimitrov is charged with two counts of IEEPA violations, one count of money laundering, and one count of making false statements to the Department of Commerce violating the ECRA. Each count in the indictment carries a maximum penalty of up to 20 years.

Sabirov and Dimitar Dimitrov remain at large.

• In December 2020, they were charged in the same indictment with two counts of IEEPA violations and one count of money laundering.

SOURCE

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/bulgarian-national-extradited-scheme-illegally-export-us-origin-sensitive-microelectronics