MOSCOW, October 5 - RAPSI. The US authorities have wrongly stated that a number of companies illegally supplied technology to the Russian military complex, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin told journalists on Friday.
The US Department of Commerce has prohibited 165 foreign companies and individuals from exporting a number of goods, according to a press release on its website. The prohibited parties are connected to the assets of the individuals from former Soviet countries who have been arrested for illegal technology exports.
"At least no one supplied us with anything," Rogozin said.
Of the eight individuals arrested in the case, four are Russian - Alexander Fishenko, Alexander Posobilov, Victoria Klebanova, and Anastasia Dyatlova.
Federal prosecutors in New York reported earlier that eleven members of an alleged secret Russian military procurement network have been charged in the United States with illegally shipping sophisticated microelectronics to Russia's military and intelligence agencies.
The FBI arrested the alleged ringleader, 46-year-old Alexander Fishenko, and seven others between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. They also executed search warrants at seven residences and business locations and seized assets from five bank accounts. The Department of Justice has stated that it believes three other suspects remain at-large, who have already returned to Russia.
The charges read that Fishenko ran an elaborate scheme as of 2008 that tricked customs agents into believing that his company - the Houston-based Arc Electronics, Inc. - manufactured and shipped routine products to Russia. Instead, the suspects provided Russia with "controlled, sensitive technologies" that can be used for radar and surveillance systems, weapons guidance systems, and detonation triggers.
On Friday, the court is expected to rule on the transfer of the case to New York upon the prosecutors' request and also on releasing the suspects on bail or placing them under house arrest, Dyatlova's attorney Alexey Tarasov said.
The attorney added that he is ready to represent the other defendants if the prosecutors do not object.
