Washington arrests two Russians for buying US-made aircraft parts

The US Department of Justice has arrested two Russian citizens, Oleg Patsula and Vasily Besedin, who are accused of trying to violate sanctions against Russia.

The complaint alleges that Patsulya and Besedin, both of whom reside in Miami-Dade County, Florida, used their Florida limited liability company, MIC P&I, LLC, and worked with others to evade US export laws and regulations to send aircraft parts to Russian airline companies, Caliber.Az reports, citing the Justice Department.

The investigation alleges that Patsulya and Besedin fielded requests for parts directly from the Russian airlines — many of which were already subject to increased export sanctions as a result of Russia’s further invasion of Ukraine — and then used intermediary companies and foreign bank accounts in third-party countries to mask the true identity of the customers and the source of payments.

Patsulya and Besedin then approached aircraft parts suppliers in the United States, lied about who their customers were, and lied about where the parts would be going. In furtherance of their criminal conspiracy, Patsulya and Besedin travelled to the District of Arizona in September 2022 and attempted to purchase export-controlled aircraft brake systems from an Arizona aircraft parts supply company.

If convicted, the defendants face up to 20 years in prison for violating the ECRA and up to 20 years in prison for conspiring to commit international money laundering.