Russian indicted in Florida arrested on Saipan

SAIPAN, Jan 6, 2018, The Guam Daily Post. A Russian national indicted in Florida in 2017 for alleged involvement in a conspiracy to illegally ship military items has been arrested on Saipan, reported The Guam Daily Post.

According to court documents filed in the District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands, a grand jury sitting in the Southern District of Florida returned an indictment against Dmitrii Makarenko on June 15, 2017, charging him with one count of conspiracy to export defense articles without a license and two counts of money laundering.

The District Court for the Southern District of Florida issued a warrant for his arrest on the same date of the indictment.

Makarenko is accused of attempting to export military-grade night vision and thermal vision devices, as well as ammunition primers, to Russia.

On Saipan, Makarenko was served with an arrest warrant by the FBI on Saturday. Court documents did not state why the defendant was on island.

For his initial appearance in the federal court on Dec. 31, Makarenko was with his private counsel, Tiberius Mocanu, and an interpreter.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Garth Backe, who represented the federal government, asked the court for an order to transfer Makarenko to Florida.

Chief Judge Ramona Manglona granted the motion.

According to the indictment, no defense articles or defense services may be exported or otherwise transferred from the U.S. to a foreign country without a license or written approval from the U.S. Department of State Directorate of Defense Trade Controls.

The International Traffic in Arms Regulations also prohibits attempted exports, re-exports, transfers, trade-shipments and diversion from foreign countries of previously exported defense articles or services without State Department authorization.

Details of the indictment

In June, Makarenko’s co-defendant, Vladimir Nevidomy, pleaded guilty in Florida and was sentenced to 26 months in prison.

The indictment stated that Nevidomy was a resident of Hallandale Beach, Florida, and was the owner, registered agent and principal of Primex Group Inc., a Florida corporation in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida.

Beginning April 2013 and continuing through November 2013, in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties, in the Southern District of Florida, the defendants conspired to export defense articles from the U.S. to Russia, the indictment stated.

It added that it was the purpose of the conspiracy for the defendants to unjustly enrich themselves by exporting defense articles from the U.S. to Russia and to evade the prohibitions and licensing requirements of the Arms Export Control Act and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations as well as detection by the U.S. government.

The co-conspirators used email to communicate between Russia and the United States, the indictment stated. Makarenko would place an order for defense articles, which Nevidomy would procure from U.S. vendors. Nevidomy would then a ship the defense articles from the U.S. to Makarenko in Russia.

Dmitrii Makarenko is accused of attempting to export military-grade night vision and thermal vision devices, as well as ammunition primers, to Russia.