Naum Morgovsky, 69, of Hillsborough, California, was
sentenced to 108 months in prison and three years of supervised release for
conspiring to illegally export components for the production of night-vision and
thermal devices to Russia in violation of the Arms Export Control Act, and for
laundering the proceeds of the scheme.
The announcement was made by Assistant Attorney General for
National Security John Demers, U.S. Attorney Alex G. Tse for the Northern
District of California, and Special Agent in Charge John F. Bennet of the FBI’s
San Francisco Field Office. The sentence
was handed down by U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria, who also assessed a fine
of $1 million and assessed forfeiture of $222,929.61 and three Infratech night
vision devices seized in connection with the investigation. On Oct. 31, Naum Morgovsky’s spouse and
codefendant, Irina Morgovsky, 67, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for her
role in the export conspiracy.
According to their guilty pleas, which occurred during the
second day of jury selection on June 12, Naum Morgovsky and Irina Morgovsky
admitted that from at least April 2012 until Aug. 25, 2016, they conspired to
export without the necessary license to a company called Infratech in Moscow,
Russia, numerous night and thermal vision components, including image
intensifier tubes and lenses. The couple
used their U.S. business, Hitek International, to purchase these components and
misrepresented to the sellers that the products would not be exported. The couple then shipped the products to
Russia using a variety of front companies and shipment methods. Further, defendants knew the night and
thermal vision components they exported were on the U.S. Munitions List and
that they therefore were not permitted to export the items without a license
from the Department of State, Directorate of Defense Trade Controls, which they
never sought.
In addition to exporting the components, Judge Chhabria
found that Naum Morgovsky, a naturalized U.S. citizen originally of Ukraine,
had taken steps to conceal his crimes so that the couple could continue to
operate the illegal export business undetected, and that Naum Morgovsky
laundered the proceeds of the export crimes.
As the government alleged, Naum Morgovksy used numerous front companies
and the identity of at least one deceased person in furtherance of the scheme. In handing down the sentence, Judge Chhabria
noted that this was a “very serious crime” and that “people who export night
vision . . . need to know that there is a penalty.”
On April 27, 2017, a federal grand jury issued a superseding
indictment charging the Morgovskys for their respective roles in the illegal
export scheme. As to Naum Morgovsky, the
grand jury charged him for the illegal export scheme with conspiracy to violate
the Armed Export Control Act, and with two counts of money laundering. He pleaded guilty to all these export-related
charges without a written plea agreement.
For her part in the scheme, the grand jury charged Irina
Morgovsky with conspiracy to violate the Armed Export Control Act and with
misuse of a passport. She pleaded guilty
to the charges and on Oct. 31, Judge Chhabria sentenced her to 18 months in
prison for her role in the scheme.
The Court has ordered Naum and Irina Morgovsky to
self-surrender on Jan. 4, 2019, to begin serving their respective sentences.
This prosecution is the result of an investigation by the
counterintelligence squad of the FBI’s San Francisco field office, with
assistance from IRS-Criminal Investigation and the Department of Commerce,
Bureau of Industry and Security.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Colin
Sampson and Erin Cornell of the Northern District of California, and Trial
Attorney Jason McCullough of the National Security Division’s
Counterintelligence and Export Control Section of the Department of Justice.
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