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United States arrests laser tech salesman for illegal exports to Russia

A previous salesperson for a. producer of laser welding machines was jailed on Monday on. charges that he conspired to avert U.S. export control laws in. order to sell his business's items to a division of the. Russian state nuclear business Rosatom.

Sam Bhambhani was charged in an indictment with dealing with. a Russian person who resold laser devices to the Russian. federal government. It alleges they utilized falsified export files to. hide the real end-user of the machines from the U.S. federal government.

The indictment was submitted in federal court in Boston. A. attorney for Bhambhani, a resident of North Attleboro,. Massachusetts, did not respond to an ask for comment.

According to the indictment, Bhambhani was employed as a. salesman for a worldwide provider of laser equipment utilized for. welding, marking, cutting, deep etching and motion systems. with centers in Rhode Island and Florida.

The equipment was sold from 2015 to 2021 to a subsidiary of. Rosatom in Yekaterinburg, Russia, that produced components for. nuclear munitions and various civilian items, according to the. indictment.

Charging documents declare that Bhambhani at times gone over. with the alleged reseller, a Russian citizen called Maxim. Teslenko, the need to find ways to navigate U.S. export. controls to make sales possible.

Also, we will need to determine the shipment and invoicing. as now there are too many controls put on export to Russia. Politics!, he wrote to Teslenko in 2020, according to the. indictment.

The U.S. federal government has actually restricted the capability of business. to export products that Russia might use in its defense, aerospace,. and maritime markets even further list below Russia's invasion. of Ukraine in February 2022.

Teslenko likewise was charged in the indictment. He lives in. Moscow and was not in U.S. custody, according to court records. A defense attorney might not be recognized.

(source: Reuters)