A 32-year-old Canadian national pleaded guilty yesterday for her role in a multimillion-dollar scheme to ship components for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), guided missile systems and other weapons to sanctioned entities in Russia. Shipping the parts is a violation of export control and sanctions laws, and the components were actually found in Russian weapons platforms and intelligence equipment on the battlefield in Ukraine. It has been nearly two years since Russia invaded the country.
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Kristina Puzyreva pleaded guilty in a New York court to money laundering conspiracy as part of a sophisticated scheme involving a pair of companies registered in Brooklyn, New York, SH Brothers Inc. and SN Electronics, Inc.
Using the SH Brothers and SN Electronics as a front, Puzyreva and her co-conspirators illegally sourced, purchased and shipped millions of dollars in electronics from U.S. manufacturers to sanctioned entities in Russia. The electronic components and integrated circuits were found in seized Russian weapons platforms and equipment in Ukraine, including UAVs and guided missiles.
According to the indictment, SH Brothers made hundreds of shipments worth more than $7 million.
Puzyreva and her husband, co-defendant Nikolay Goltsev, traveled on multiple occasions from Canada to meet with their conspirators in Brooklyn. Puzyreva used multiple bank accounts for the scheme to make large cash deposits that were then transferred to Canadian accounts.
During the investigation, the government uncovered some bold text exchanges between Puzyreva and her husband. In one exchange around January 2023, the husband complained that a co-conspirator “asked me to make 80 accounts . . . I am making accounts for 3 mln [i.e., million]. Fingers hurting already from the laptop.”
His wife responded, “Lot of money? We will get rich.”
So far, the government has seized some $1.68 million dollars related to the illegal export and Puzyreva now faces a maximum penalty of up to 20 years in prison.
