A dual Russian and German national, was extradited from the Republic of Cyprus to the U.S. after being arrested twelve months ago for his involvement in a microelectronics transshipment scheme in support of the Russian war effort.
Arthur Petrov, 33, is charged with conspiring to smuggle microelectronics with military applications from U.S. distributors to Russia as part of an illicit Russian-based procurement network that supplies manufacturers for the Russian military.
According to the allegations contained in the Complaint and statements made during Court proceedings:
Petrov is a dual Russian-German national who resided in Russia and Cyprus and worked for LLC Electrocom VPK (“Electrocom”), a Russia-based supplier of critical electronics components for manufacturers supplying weaponry and other equipment to the Russian military. Petrov and two co-conspirators (“CC-1” and “CC-2”), who are Russian nationals also working for Electrocom, operated an illicit procurement network in Russia and elsewhere overseas. They have fraudulently procured from U.S. distributors large quantities of microelectronics subject to U.S. export controls on behalf of Electrocom. To carry out the scheme, Petrov and his partners used shell companies and other deceptive means to conceal that the electronics components were destined for Russia. The technology procured in contravention of export controls during the course of the conspiracy have significant military applications and include various types of electronics components of the sort that have been recovered in Russian military hardware on the battlefield in Ukraine, such as Russian guided missiles, drones, and electronic warfare and communications devices.
To perpetrate the scheme, Petrov first acquired the controlled microelectronics from U.S.-based electronics exporters using a Cyprus-based shell company, Astrafteros Technokosmos LTD which he operates. Petrov procured these sensitive electronics components by falsely representing to the U.S. exporters that Astrafteros was purchasing the items for fire security systems, among other commercial uses, and that the ultimate end-users and destinations of the electronics are companies in Cyprus or other third countries — when in fact the components are destined for Electrocom in Russia, which supplies manufacturers for the Russian military.
The microelectronics that Petrov has procured as part of the conspiracy include, among other things, microcontrollers and integrated circuits that are on the Commerce Control List maintained by the Commerce Department and cannot lawfully be exported or reexported to Russia without a license from the Commerce Department. Invoices provided to Petrov by the U.S. distributors expressly noted that these microcontrollers and integrated circuits are subject to U.S. export controls.
To evade these controls, Petrov and his co-conspirators worked together to transship the controlled items procured using pass-through entities operated in third countries. Co-conspirators then caused the items to be shipped, sometimes through yet another country, to the ultimate destination: Electrocom in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
At all times, Petrov and his partners concealed from the U.S. distributors that they were procuring the controlled electronics components on behalf of Electrocom and that the items were destined for Russia. During the course of the conspiracy, they procured from U.S. distributors and shipped to Russia more than $225,000 worth of controlled electronics components with military applications.
On August 26, 2023, Petrov was arrested and detained by the Cypriot authorities at the request of the U.S. The U.S. thereafter submitted a formal extradition request. On July 18, 2024, after extradition proceedings in the Cypriot courts concluded with extradition being approved, the Cypriot Minister of Justice and Public Order issued the extradition order.
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Petrov is charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the U.S., which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison; one count of conspiracy to violate the Export Control Reform Act (“ECRA”), which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; three counts of violating the ECRA, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; one count of conspiracy to smuggle goods from the U.S., which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison; three counts of smuggling goods from the U.S., which each carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison; one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
U.S. v. Petrov Complaint.pdf [PDF, 418 KB]
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