Businessman Pleads Guilty to Export and Tax Charges in Connection with Shipments of Sensitive Technology to Russia

Ilya Khan, 66, a national of the United States, Israel, and Russia, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to violate the Export Control Reform Act for his role in a transnational, multi-million-dollar scheme to secure and illegally export dual-use semiconductors and other sensitive technology to Joint Stock Company Research and Development Center ELVEES (Elvees) and other entities in Russia. Elvees, one of the leading Russian developers of microchips, was sanctioned by the U.S. government in 2022 for contributing to Russia's security services, military, and defense sectors. Kahn also pleaded guilty to attempted tax evasion for failing to pay taxes on the illicit income he earned from the scheme.

"Today's guilty plea is another step towards stopping the illicit flow of technology to support the Russian war machine," said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department's National Security Division. "The department will continue to do all that we can to disrupt the illegal export of sensitive dual-use electronics to our adversaries and protect our national security."

"Kahn's brazen, multi-million dollar scheme to illegally supply semiconductors to companies tied to Russia's intelligence service and military was doomed to fail, due to the exemplary investigative work of U.S. law enforcement," said Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement Matthew S. Axelrod of the Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS). "The Department of Commerce and our partners remain laser-focused on disrupting the illicit procurement networks used to acquire the technology needed to power the Russian war machine."

"The illegal export of goods and technology to Russia is a threat to U.S. economic and national security," said Executive Assistant Director Robert Wells of the FBI's National Security Branch. "Whether it's commercial goods or military-use technology, illegal exports have the potential to cause significant harm. Ilya Khan's conviction demonstrates the resolve of the FBI and its partners to protect our citizens and our country."

"Semiconductors and other advanced electronics are the lifeblood of Russia's war machine, and Kahn's circumvention of U.S. export controls was critical to Russia's chip design and manufacturing capacity," said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace for the Eastern District of New York. "Today's plea marks a significant step in protecting the national security of the U.S. and our allies and partners abroad. We will continue to use all our law enforcement and national security tools to hold individuals and corporations accountable for flouting the law to aid sanctioned entities in Russia and elsewhere."

"Kahn's multi-million dollar business threatened the national and financial security of our country," said Chief Guy Ficco of IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI). "In addition to illegally exporting sensitive technology to entities in Russia, he circumvented our tax laws by not reporting his income or paying taxes on his ill-gotten gains. Uncovering financial crimes, especially those that look to weaken the stability of our country will continue to be a priority for our agency."

Kahn is the owner of Senesys Incorporated and Sensor Design Association, which operated in California and Brooklyn, New York. Kahn operated these businesses - ostensibly involved in "security software development" and the testing of silicon wafers for military, avionics and space users - as fronts for a years' long conspiracy to acquire and export sensitive and sophisticated, dual-use electronics from the United States to Elvees in Russia. Many of these items required an export license due to national security and anti-terrorism reasons, which Kahn did not obtain.

Kahn also arranged for Elvees to continue to fabricate and import semiconductors after Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. These semiconductors can be used for, among other things, communications systems, GPS receivers, and equipment for military unmanned aerial vehicles, also known as drones. In doing so, Kahn utilized a transnational network of front companies and bank accounts to ship those semiconductors to Russia following the invasion of Ukraine, often arranging for the semiconductors to be sent to the U.S. and then re-exported to Russia via China and other locations around the world.

In March 2022, the Commerce Department added Elvees to the Entity List, imposing a license requirement to export any item subject to the Export Administration Regulations to Elvees, and stating that it would review license applications under a policy of denial. Despite these sanctions, Kahn continued to work with Elvees. For example, in May 2022, Kahn emailed a Taiwanese manufacturer design guidance for an Elvees-branded microchip. Subsequently, Kahn shipped thousands of units of this microchip to a Hong Kong-based shipping company, and then to a company located in the mainland of the People's Republic of China. Kahn noted in communications with the Hong Kong shipping company that he received a "call from Russia" about the PRC business to which he was directing the goods.

Kahn's export activity for the benefit of Elvees dates to at least 2012, and accounts under his control received more than $50 million from Elvees and related entities between 2012 and 2022. Of that money, Kahn channeled nearly $5 million for his personal use, which he did not report to the IRS and on which he did not pay income taxes. As part of his plea, Kahn agreed to forfeit $4,923,548.94 in ill-gotten gains and to pay an additional $1,892,816.00 in restitution to the IRS.

Khan faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

The FBI Los Angeles Field Office investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Artie McConnell and Matthew Skurnik for the Eastern District of New York and Trial Attorney Scott Claffee of the National Security Division's Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California assisted in the prosecution.

Today's actions were 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 interagency law enforcement task force dedicated to enforcing the sweeping sanctions, export restrictions and economic countermeasures that the United States has imposed, along with its allies and partners, in response to Russia's unprovoked military invasion of Ukraine.