Brooklyn, NY – Businessman Charged for Being. Secret Russian Agent

Brooklyn, NY – A Kazakhstan-born businessman was charged in New York on Wednesday with being a secret Russian agent involved in a scheme to illegally export microelectronics from the United States to Russian military and intelligence agencies.

Alexander Fishenko was among 11 defendants named in an indictment unsealed in federal court in Brooklyn.

Eight of the defendants, including the 46-year-old Fishenko, were arrested Tuesday night and Wednesday morning and were to be arraigned in Houston; the names of their attorneys were not immediately available. Three others were still being sought.

The indictment alleges that since October 2008, Fishenko and his co-defendants “engaged in a surreptitious and systematic conspiracy” to obtain the high-tech electronics from U.S. makers and suppliers while purposely evading licensing requirements.

The microelectronics are subject to strict government controls. Authorities say they could have a wide range of military uses, including radar and surveillance systems, weapons guidance systems and detonation triggers.

Fishenko — a naturalized U.S. citizen and owner of American and Russian companies — was charged with operating inside the United States as an unregistered agent of the Russian government.

FBI spokeswoman Shauna Dunlap said Wednesday that agents were executing a search warrant at a business in Houston. She said several of the defendants were expected to make their initial court appearances in Houston later Wednesday.