US Business Owner Pleads Guilty to Illegally Exporting Chips to Russia
U.S.-based business owner Ilya Kahn pleaded guilty Nov. 7 to conspiracy to violate the Export Control Reform Act after he illegally shipped sensitive technology, including semiconductors, from the U.S. to Russia (see 2401180047), DOJ said.
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Kahn, a citizen of the U.S., Russia and Israel, used his software development companies to ship the semiconductors and other items to several businesses in Russia, including Joint Stock Company Research and Development Center, which was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2022 and is one of Russia's leading developers of microchips.
He faces up to 20 years in prison and agreed to forfeit more than $4.9 million in "ill-gotten gains," DOJ said. Kahn also will pay more than $1.8 million in restitution to the IRS because DOJ said he didn't report the sales or pay income taxes on them.
Breon Peace, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said Kahn’s evasion of U.S. export controls “was critical to Russia’s chip design and manufacturing capacity,” adding that the government will “continue to use all our law enforcement and national security tools to hold individuals and corporations accountable for flouting the law to aid sanctioned entities in Russia and elsewhere.”