Armenian Man Indicted in Austin for Alleged Role in Conspiracy to Smuggle Goods to Russia

AUSTIN, Texas – An Armenian national made his initial appearance in a federal court in Austin today after he was indicted and extradited on charges related to an alleged export control conspiracy.

According to court documents, from February 2022 until at least August 2024, Kamo Kirakosyan and others allegedly participated in a criminal conspiracy to export goods, including items that can be used for semiconductor manufacturing, from the United States to the Russian Federation through the Republic of Armenia without the requisite license or authorization from the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry & Security. Kirakosyan and his co-conspirators are also alleged to have violated the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) by engaging in transactions with and for the benefit of one or more entities on the Specially Designated Nationals list without the required licenses from the Department of Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control.

The indictment alleges that Kirakosyan became the straw or substitute purchaser of U.S.-origin goods for his co-conspirators shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, and the imposition of additional sanctions and export restrictions on Russia. In May 2022, Kirakosyan allegedly sent a co-conspirator instructions on opening a bank account in Armenia for the purpose of evading sanctions. The indictment further alleges that, while arranging the transshipment of goods to Russia, Kirakosyan represented himself to U.S. companies as the Armenian buyer of goods and did not provide truthful information about the end users, despite the U.S. companies’ requests for end user statements, and despite Kirakosyan’s knowledge that the unauthorized export or reexport to Russia of certain shipments was prohibited without a license.

Kirakosyan is charged with one count of conspiracy to violate federal law; one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States; one count of attempted violation of the Export Control Reform Act (ECRA); on count of attempted smuggling; one count of violation of the ECRA; and one count of smuggling.

Kirakosyan was initially charged in a criminal complaint on or about July 31, 2024. He was extradited to the United States on Aug. 29, 2025, and made his initial court appearance today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Dustin Howell of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.

U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas made the announcement.

The FBI and the Bureau of Industry and Security of the U.S. Department of Commerce are investigating the case, with assistance from the FBI’s Legal Attaché in Berlin. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided significant assistance in securing Kirakosyan’s extradition to the United States.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Roomberg is prosecuting the case with assistance from Trial Attorney Emma Ellenrieder of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.

An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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