Attorney General Merrick B. Garland |
Gal Haimovich, 49, of Israel, pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiracy to commit export control and smuggling violations for his role in a scheme to illegally ship aircraft parts and avionics from U.S. manufacturers and suppliers to Russia, including for the benefit of sanctioned Russian airline companies. As part of his plea agreement, Haimovich admitted that his scheme involved deceiving U.S. companies about the true destination of the goods at issue and that he and others attempted to conceal the scheme by submitting false information in export documents filed with the U.S. government. A sentencing hearing has been set for Nov. 22.
According to court documents, Haimovich owned an international freight forwarding company affiliated with a group of companies doing business in various countries, including the United States and Israel. Through these companies, Haimovich operated as a freight forwarder for individuals and entities seeking to illegally export goods to Russia in violation of U.S. export control laws. Between March 2022 and May 2023, Haimovich facilitated the export of aircraft parts and avionics, including those with missile technology applications, from the United States through the Southern District of Florida to various third-party transhippers on behalf of Russian customers. These Russian end customers routinely instructed Haimovich to deceive U.S.-based manufacturers and suppliers about the ultimate destination of the goods.
For example, between April 2022 and April 2023, after the United States imposed additional restrictions on exporting goods to Russia in response to its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Haimovich arranged more than 160 shipments to companies in the Maldives and United Arab Emirates responsible for illicitly transshipping goods to Russia. One such shipment occurred in August 2022 when an air data module was falsely reported as destined for the Maldives but was actually intended for S7 Airlines in Russia.
Haimovich also agreed that between March 2022 and May 2023 he billed Russian customers, including Siberia Airlines (doing business as S7 Airlines), more than $2 million for illegally exporting aircraft parts and avionics from the United States to Russia. In connection with his plea, he agreed to a forfeiture money judgment totaling $2,024,435 and forfeiture of various aircraft parts and components.
The Department of Commerce’s Office of Export Enforcement and the FBI investigated this case.
Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division; U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida; Executive Assistant Director Robert Wells of the FBI National Security Branch; and Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement Matthew S. Axelrod made this announcement.
Trial Attorney Christopher M. Rigali from the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section along with Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Browne from Southern District Florida are prosecuting this case.
This case is being coordinated through Task Force KleptoCapture under Justice Department leadership which aims at enforcing sanctions imposed due to Russia’s military actions against Ukraine since March 2nd last year.