A Latvian man extradited to the United States on charges of conspiracy to sell advanced avionic technology to Russian companies made his first appearance in a Kansas City federal court on Aug. 21.
Oleg Chistyakov, 55, has been charged with violating the Export Control Reform Act, smuggling, money laundering, and conspiracy. He faces the maximum incarceration sentence of 20 years and a $1 million fine, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Christyakov allegedly conspired with two Kansas residents, 61-year-old Cyril Buyanovsky and 56-year-old Douglas Robertson, who pleaded guilty in March 2023 to conspiracy charges.
Chistyakov conducted his operations from Latvia through his company, RosAero FZC, while Buyanovsky and Robertson operated through their company, KanRus Trading Company, to cloak their activities, the DOJ said.
“Chistyakov allegedly acted as a broker for KanRus by soliciting quotes, negotiating prices and terms of delivery and facilitating payments between KanRus and customers in Russia,” the DOJ said. “As alleged, Chistyakov and his conspirators attempted to conceal their illegal activities by creating false invoices, transshipping items through third-party countries, such as Germany and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), using bank accounts in third-party countries, such as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and the UAE, and exporting items to intermediary companies which then reexported the items to the ultimate end destinations.”
These operations allegedly continued after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, leading to the DOJ increasing restrictions on business with Russia.
Task Force KleptoCapture
After the invasion, the DOJ launched Task Force KleptoCapture to enforce the sanctions against Russia “designed to isolate Russia from global markets and impose serious costs for this unjustified act of war, by targeting the crimes of Russian officials, government-aligned elites, and those who aid or conceal their unlawful conduct.”
“To those bolstering the Russian regime through corruption and sanctions evasion: we will deprive you of safe haven and hold you accountable,” Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said. “Oligarchs be warned: we will use every tool to freeze and seize your criminal proceeds.”
The DOJ said the task force is operated from the deputy attorney general’s office and leverages experts on sanction enforcement while relying on “cutting-edge investigative techniques” such as tracing cryptocurrency and foreign intelligence sources.
In January 2024, 32-year-old Kristina Puzyreva pleaded guilty to a multimillion-dollar money laundering scheme in which she sent unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) components, guided missile systems, and other weapons to Russia.
Deputy General Monao said Puzyreva disregarded sanctions and that the weapons she sent were later identified on a battlefield in Ukraine.
“As we approach the two-year anniversary of Russia’s unlawful invasion of Ukraine, through our Disruptive Technology Strike Force and our Task Force KleptoCapture, the Justice Department will continue using all available legal tools and authorities to hold accountable those who supply the Russian war machine with critical U.S. technology,” she said.
Since the task force was established, the DOJ has “seized, restrained, or obtained forfeiture judgments against approximately $700 million belonging to Russian oligarchs” and other supporters, the DOJ said.
