Indian American Detained for Unlawful Exports to Russia

September 9:
An individual was apprehended for his alleged role in a conspiracy to sell laser welding tools manufactured by a different business to a branch of Rosatom, the Russian state nuclear power corporation, in violation of U.S. export control rules. A Russian national who resold laser technology to the Russian government was one of the individuals against whom Sam Bhambhani was indicted. The claim is that they lied on the export paperwork to the US government about who was really buying the computers.

A federal grand jury in Boston has handed down the indictment. No one from Bhambhani's (North Attleboro, Massachusetts) legal team was available for comment. The indictment states that Bhambhani was a salesman for a worldwide provider of laser equipment that was based in Florida and Rhode Island. The equipment was used for welding, marking, cutting, deep engraving, and motion systems.

From 2015 to 2021, the machinery was allegedly sold to a Rosatom affiliate in Yekaterinburg, Russia, which made nuclear weapon and civilian component parts, as stated in the indictment. According to the charging papers, Bhambhani and the alleged reseller, Maxim Teslenko, a Russian citizen, discussed the necessity of finding methods to circumvent U.S. export regulations in order to facilitate sales.

Because of the current influx of regulations pertaining to exports to Russia, we must also resolve the issues of shipment and billing. In 2020, he allegedly wrote to Teslenko, "Politics!" as stated in the indictment. Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the U.S. administration further banned exports of products that Russia may utilize in its defense, aerospace, and maritime industries.

The indictment also included charges against Teslenko. According to court records, he is a Moscow resident and was not in the custody of the United States. Nobody was able to identify the defense attorney.