Press Release
Canadian National Sentenced to 40 Months for Multimillion-Dollar Export Control Scheme
Wednesday, January 8, 2025
Defendant Exported Millions of Dollars of Electronics Used by Russia in Missiles and Drones
Nikolay Goltsev, 38, of Montreal, Canada, was sentenced today to 40 months in prison for conspiring to commit export control violations. Goltsev masterminded a global procurement scheme on behalf of sanctioned Russian companies, including Russian military companies. Some of the electronic components shipped by Goltsev were later found in seized Russian weapons platforms and signals intelligence equipment in Ukraine.
“Today, Nikolay Goltsev joins the growing list of defendants held accountable for unlawfully procuring and profiting from the sale of U.S. technology to further Russia’s brutal war in Ukraine,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “The Justice Department is sparing no effort to ensure that those who violate America’s export controls to feed Russia’s war machine answer for their crimes in American courtrooms.”
“When Russia, its supporters, and its military companies lie and scheme their way around sanctions, they do not just violate the law – they endanger our Ukrainian allies and the freedoms they are fighting to protect,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas. “We cannot allow crimes like those committed by Mr. Goltsev to be ignored; to do so would only increase the risk they will be repeated. I commend the extraordinary Special Agents of Homeland Security Investigations who, alongside their federal and international law enforcement partners, are working diligently and bravely to support the people of Ukraine and hold accountable the perpetrators of Russia’s unlawful, unjust, and unprovoked war of aggression.”
“Today’s sentencing brings accountability to Nikolay Goltsev for his conspiracy to ship millions of dollars of electronics to Russia in support of its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray. “Goltsev and his co-conspirators circumvented U.S. export control laws, used intermediary front companies to hide their crimes, and sold sophisticated electronics to Russia for use in its weapons platforms and signals intelligence equipment. The FBI is committed to working with our partners to investigate, disrupt, and hold accountable those who violate U.S. laws and provide aid to our adversaries.”
“Goltsev’s sentence sends a strong message that those who break our laws and contribute to Russia’s brutal war in Ukraine will be held accountable,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “The Department of Justice will vigorously pursue those who procure the component parts that make Russia’s war machine tick. This case demonstrates that these wrongdoers will be found and punished accordingly.”
“Goltsev and his wife thought they would ‘get rich’ by running an illicit global procurement scheme to supply sanctioned end users in Russia,” said Acting Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement Kevin J. Kurland of the Department of Commerce. “Instead, they got jail time.”
“Simply put, Russia cannot effectively manufacture advanced weapons without U.S. technology,” said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace for the Eastern District of New York. “Today’s sentence goes a long way in preventing Russia’s access to U.S. electronics for use in the unlawful war against Ukraine. Today’s sentencing makes clear that the United States Attorney’s Office is committed to stopping Russia’s illicit acquisition of U.S. technology.”
Goltsev used two Brooklyn companies, SH Brothers Inc. and SN Electronics Inc., to unlawfully source, purchase and ship millions of dollars in dual-use electronics from U.S. manufacturers to sanctioned end users in Russia. Some of the electronic components and integrated circuits shipped by the defendants through SH Brothers have been found in seized Russian weapons platforms and signals intelligence equipment in Ukraine. Some of these components were critical to Russia’s precision-guided weapons systems being used against Ukraine. During the period charged in the indictment, SH Brothers made hundreds of shipments valued at over $7 million to Russia.
To carry out the defendants’ criminal scheme, Goltsev purchased the electronic components from U.S. manufacturers and distributors under the auspices of SH Brothers and SN Electronics and arranged for the items to be shipped from those manufacturers and distributors to various locations in Brooklyn. The co-conspirators then unlawfully shipped the items to a variety of intermediary front companies located in other countries, including Turkey, Hong Kong, India, China and the United Arab Emirates, where they were rerouted to Russia.
Goltsev’s communications show that he had a sophisticated understanding of export control laws. For example, in a message in February 2023, Goltsev advised another co-defendant to “write something more substantial [to the U.S. company] so that there are no more questions.” The co-defendant responded, “is it better to provide them with a Chinese end user,” to which Goltsev stated, “yes should be ok.”
Goltsev’s communications also show that he knew the electronic components were going to Russia for use in Ukraine and support of Russia. In a May 30, 2023 text message conversation between co-defendant Kristina Puzyreva, Goltsev’s wife, the defendants discussed a drone attack in Moscow and their support of Russia:
Puzyreva: what is Putin waiting for. He needs to destroy Ukraine.
Goltsev: yeah they’re gonna get f—ed either way.
Puzyreva: He needs to put fear into them. Those losers.
Goltsev: Well the way he is acting they have the right to do the same.
Puzyreva: I hate [ethnic slur for Ukrainians] anyway.
The scheme involved millions of dollars and proved to be lucrative for the defendants. In a text message exchange on or about Jan. 13, 2023, Goltsev complained to Puzyreva that a subordinate of a co-conspirator “asked me to make 80 accounts . . . I am making accounts for 3 mln [i.e., million]. Fingers hurting already from the laptop.” Puzyreva responded, “Lot of money? We will get rich.”
The government seized $20,000 in cash from the New York hotel room in which defendant Goltsev was arrested. In total, the government has seized approximately $1.68 million in connection with this export scheme.
On July 24, co-defendant Kristina Puzyreva was sentenced to 24 months in prison for conspiracy to launder the proceeds of the export scheme. Co-defendant Salimdzhon Nasriddinov is awaiting sentencing.
The BIS, HSI, and FBI are investigating the case. U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided valuable assistance to the investigation.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Artie McConnell, Ellen H. Sise, and Laura Mantell for the Eastern District of New York and Trial Attorney Christopher M. Cook of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case.
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 an interagency law enforcement task force dedicated to enforcing the sweeping sanctions, export controls and economic countermeasures that, beginning in 2014, the United States, along with its foreign allies and partners, has imposed in response to Russia’s unprovoked military invasion of Ukraine. Announced by the Attorney General on March 2, 2022, and under the leadership of the Office of the Deputy Attorney General, the task force will continue to leverage all of the department’s tools and authorities to combat efforts to evade or undermine the collective actions taken by the U.S. government in response to Russian military aggression.
Updated January 8, 2025
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