NEW-YORK, November 20 - RAPSI. Russian citizen Viktoria Klebanova, who was arrested in Texas in connection with the case of Arc Electronic's illegal shipping of sophisticated microelectronics to Russia's military and intelligence agencies, has been released on $250,000 bail, with a $30,000 deposit submitted in cash, under the ruling of a New York court, Klebanova's attorney Arkady Bukh told RIA Novosti.
Prosecutors said Klebanova was a key figure in the case and were insisting that she be kept in custody. Also federal judge Sterling Johnson placed a gag order on the prosecution's case materials on Monday, according to the judge's ruling made available to RIA Novosti.
Prosecutor Daniel Silver had requested that the case be treated as classified, claiming that some of the information involved was sensitive for the interests of U.S. national security.
From now on, the defendants and their lawyers are prohibited from giving information on the case materials and from giving copies of documents from the Prosecutor's Office and the FBI to a third party.
In all, 11 members of the alleged secret Russian military procurement network have been charged.
The FBI arrested the alleged ringleader, 46-year-old Alexander Fishenko, and seven others on October 3 and 4. They also executed search warrants at seven residences and business locations and seized assets from five bank accounts. The Department of Justice believes three other suspects remain at-large and have already returned to Russia.
The charges read that Fishenko had been running an elaborate scheme since 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 and weapons guidance systems, as well as detonation triggers.
The Russian Foreign Ministry previously issued a statement demanding that the U.S. stop applying psychological pressure on the arrested Russian citizens and forcing them to plead guilty.
There are a total of 11 defendants in the case, three of them have been placed on the wanted list. Four of the eight arrested - Viktoria Klebanova, Alexander Fishenko, Alexander Posobilov and Anastasia Dyatlova - have U.S. and Russian passports. The Russian Foreign Ministry has said that it considers them to be Russian citizens and has promised to support them.