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Oct 23, 2024

North Attleboro man indicted for allegedly helping Russia obtain laser welding machines for nukes | Local News | thesunchronicle.com

U.S. District Court in Boston. NORTH ATTLEBORO — A local man and a Russian have been indicted for allegedly helping Russia acquire cutting-edge, American-made laser welding machines that could be used

U.S. District Court in Boston.

NORTH ATTLEBORO — A local man and a Russian have been indicted for allegedly helping Russia acquire cutting-edge, American-made laser welding machines that could be used to support that country’s nuclear weapons program, the U.S. attorney’s office in Boston said Monday.

Sam Bhambhani, 55, of 156 Paine Road, North Attleboro, and Maxim Teslenko, 35, of Moscow, were each indicted on one count of smuggling and one count of conspiracy to violate and evade export controls, commit smuggling, and defrauding the United States, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

It is alleged that from around 2015 through at least 2021, Bhambhani and Teslenko conspired to export laser welding machines from Bhambhani’s employer in the United States to the Ural Electromechanical Plant (UEMZ) in Yekaterinburg, Russia.

They allegedly falsified the export documentation submitted to the U.S. government in order to conceal the fact that the UEMZ was the true end user of the machines.

The company where Bhambhani worked has facilities in Rhode Island and Florida. It was not identified in the indictment or by authorities.

Ultimately, seven laser machines were sent to Russia, according to the indictment.

The UEMZ is a subsidiary of Rosatom, a Russian state corporation headquartered in Moscow that oversaw Russia’s civilian and military nuclear program. According to the indictment, Teslenko knew that the laser welding machines were intended for the portion of the UEMZ involving the Russian nuclear weapons program.

Bhambhani was arrested last Monday. He pleaded not guilty and is free with bail conditions following an initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Boston. Teslenko remains at large overseas, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

Bhambhani’s lawyer did not immediately return an email from The Sun Chronicle seeking comment.

A Linkedin page under Bhambhani’s name says he works in the worldwide business development of laser welding and marketing of cutting technology that serves medical device, tool and die, aerospace, automotive, electronics, solar, dental, jewelry, and precision engineering industries.

“These two men are accused of helping Russia illegally acquire cutting edge, American made laser welding machines in support of this hostile nation state’s nuclear program. As part of their shameful efforts to evade our country’s export laws, we believe these men utilized shell companies, fictitious personas and falsified records,” Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Boston office, said in a statement.

“This is yet another flagrant example of Russia using illicit procurement networks to advance their goals to the detriment of our country’s national security. Let this case serve as a warning to others that if you violate U.S. export controls or evade U.S. sanctions, the FBI and our partners will find you and ensure that you are brought to justice,” Cohen said.

In a statement, acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy said, “The defendants are alleged to have engaged in a sophisticated scheme to evade export controls, deceiving the government about the true destination of sensitive technology and putting critical national interests at risk. We will continue to work tirelessly with our federal partners to keep our country’s most sensitive technologies out of the world’s most dangerous hands.”

Officials said the case was the result of a multi-year investigation and cooperation between the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Office of Export Enforcement in Boston, the FBI and U.S. Homeland Security Investigations.

The charge of smuggling provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. The charge of conspiracy provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, and a fine of up to $250,000.

The case was coordinated through the Justice and Commerce Departments’ Disruptive Technology Strike Force and the Justice Department’s Task Force KleptoCapture. The Disruptive Technology Strike Force is an interagency law enforcement strike force co-led by the departments of Justice and Commerce designed to target illicit actors, protect supply chains and prevent critical technology from being acquired by authoritarian regimes and hostile nation states.

Task Force KleptoCapture is an interagency law enforcement task force dedicated to enforcing the sweeping sanctions, export restrictions and economic countermeasures that the United States has imposed, along with its allies and partners, in response to Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine.

David Linton may be reached at 508-236-0338.