San Antonio, Texas – A Bulgarian national has been extradited to the United States and charged with conspiring to smuggle sensitive microelectronics from the U.S. to Russia, authorities announced today.
Milan Dimitrov, 50, made his initial appearance in a federal court in San Antonio today after being extradited from Greece, according to court documents.
The indictment alleges that Dimitrov, along with Russian national Ilias Sabirov, 52, and Bulgarian national Dimitar Dimitrov, 74, conspired to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and the Export Control Reform Act (ECRA) in a scheme to procure sensitive radiation-hardened integrated circuits from the United States and illegally export those components to Russia through Bulgaria without the required licenses from the U.S. government.
The indictment alleges that between at least May 2014 and May 2018, the defendants used the Bulgarian company Multi Technology Integration Group EEOD (MTIG) to receive export-controlled items from the United States and transship them to Russia without the required licenses.
According to the indictment, Sabirov is the head of two Russian companies — Cosmos Complect and OOO Sovtest Comp. — and controls MTIG. Both Dimitar and Milan Dimitrov worked for Sabirov at Cosmos Complect and MTIG.
In 2014, the defendants met with the supplier of the radiation-hardened circuits in Austin, Texas, and were informed that radiation-hardened circuits could not be shipped to Russia because of U.S. trade restrictions. Sabirov then established MTIG in Bulgaria to purchase the controlled electronic circuits, which did not require a license for export to Bulgaria.
The indictment alleges that the defendants shipped over $1 million in radiation-hardened components to OOO Sovtest Comp. in Russia, as well as over $1.7 million in other electronic components, and that Milan Dimitrov falsely denied sending the components to Russia during an interview with a Department of Commerce Export Control Officer in late 2018.
Milan Dimitrov is charged with two counts of IEEPA violations, one count of money laundering, and one count of making false statements to the Department of Commerce in violation of the ECRA. Each count in the indictment carries a maximum penalty of up to 20 years in prison.
Sabirov and Dimitar Dimitrov remain at large, and the two were charged in the same indictment in December 2020 with two counts of IEEPA violations and one count of money laundering.
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Key Facts
- State: Federal
- Category: Cybercrime|White Collar Crime|Organized Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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