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WASHINGTON (CN) — A Hungarian man faces federal charges of conspiring to illegally export American military-grade radio communication technology to individuals in the Russian government without a license, according to prosecutors in a complaint unsealed Monday.
Bence Horvath, a Hungarian national, was arrested upon his arrival at the San Francisco International Airport on Aug. 23, and faces federal charges in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves for the District of Columbia pledged to bring Horvath and “people who scheme to secure U.S. technology in violation of U.S. laws” to justice in a statement announcing the charges.
“This defendant allegedly sought to skirt U.S. export controls put in place to protect our national security and to address Russia’s unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine,” Graves said.
Justice Department prosecutors Christopher Tortorice and Maeghan Mikorski, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for D.C., charged Horvath with one count of violating the Export Control Reform Act. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison with a maximum fine of $1 million.
According to prosecutors in an affidavit, Horvath was part of a multinational procurement network that contracted with various groups in the Russian government and worked on large-scale projects, including the construction of radio communications systems in Russia’s Kursk region along the Ukrainian border.
The Kursk region has become the focus of the Russian-Ukrainian War, after Ukrainian forces launched a surprise invasion 18 miles deep into Russian territory there.
According to Ukraine’s top commander, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, the invasion has resulted in Ukraine taking control of more than 1,200 square kilometers and 93 villages.
Prior to the invasion, the majority of the conflict had been focused on the eastern Donetsk region, where Russia had crossed the border to the north of Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, seized several villages and caused thousands of civilians to flee.
According to prosecutors, Horvath personally arranged to purchase American-made radio technology and smuggle it to the Russian government via a network of affiliates in Spain, Serbia, Hungary and Latvia.
Justice Department prosecutor’s timeline of Horvath’s conduct draws back to January 2023, when he and others in the conspiracy began discussions with a small U.S. radio distribution company about obtaining and exporting to Russia military-grade radios and related accessories.
Over the next several months, Horvath worked to secure those items, which he sought to transport to Russia via a freight forwarder in Latvia.
According to prosecutors, Horvath purchased 200 of the military-grade radios and intended to export them to Russia but was unsuccessful, as the U.S. Customs and Border Protection detained the shipment.
Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement Matthew Axelrod lauded the customs officers for catching Horvath and his attempted shipment in a statement on Monday.
“Targeting illicit global procurement networks that operate in the shadows the equip the Russian government is of the highest priority to the Bureau of Industry and Security,” Axelrod said. “As Horvath’s arrest demonstrates, it doesn’t matter where in the world you operate — when the United States believes your conduct violates our export laws, we take action.”
Monday’s charges are a result of a coordinated Justice Department task force known as “KleptoCapture” and the Justice and Commerce Department’s Disruptive Technology Strike Force. KleptoCapture was created to enforce American sanctions against Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine.
According to the Justice Department’s affidavit, the final destination for the 200 radios was an unidentified Russian company located in Moscow. It publicly identifies itself as a partner for an unidentified American company that designs, manufactures and sells communication equipment and radios.
A Ukrainian government website that lists entities it believes provide material support to the Russian war effort identified the company Horvath sought to deliver the radios to as one such entity.
According to the Ukrainian site, the company “works in the interest of the Russian Ministry of Defense” to supply radio communications used in the 2022 invasion.
Prosecutors noted in the complaint that their investigation had only connected Horvath to attempts to export materials to Russia, not to any other countries.
Monday’s announcement comes as the war just passed the 30-month mark, and nearly 10,000 civilians have been killed in Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Earlier on Monday, Russia launched more than 200 missiles and drones, ranging from the capital Kyiv to Odesa in the west of the country, in “one of the largest strikes” of the war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a public statement condemning the attack.
Zelenskyy said the strikes seemed to target the nation’s energy infrastructure, causing damage to energy facilities and blackouts in Kyiv and other cities, in an apparent attempt to damage Ukraine’s economy and dampen civilian morale.
“Like most previous Russian strikes, this one is just as vile, targeting critical civilian infrastructure," Zelenskyy said in a post on Telegram.
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