Georgia Company & Owner Sentenced for Role in Scheme to Evade U.S. National Security Trade Sanctioms

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Georgia, a company in Dacula and its owner have been sentenced in federal court for their roles in an international scheme to evade United States national security laws.

The conspirators attempted to provide a pump for Russian deep-water drilling.

Dali Bagrou, 60, of Alpharetta, Ga., was sentenced to 51 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release after pleading guilty in U.S. District Court to Conspiracy, said David H. Estes, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. Bagrou’s company, World Mining and Oil Supply (WMO) of Dacula, Ga., was sentenced to five years’ probation after pleading guilty to Violation of the Export Control Reform Act. In addition, as part of Bagrou’s plea, he agreed to forfeit his home purchased with illicit proceeds; the Atlanta-area residence is valued at approximately $800,000.

“Dali Bagrou’s sentence wraps up an investigation and prosecution that prevented bad actors from circumventing our nation’s trade security,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Estes. “These conspirators are now being held accountable.”

As described in court documents and testimony in USA v. World Mining and Oil Supply et. al., the conspiracy began when an unnamed Russian government-controlled business began working in 2016 with Oleg Vladislavovich Nikitin, 54, of St. Petersburg, Russia, the general director of KS Engineering (KSE), a St. Petersburg-based energy company, to purchase a power turbine from a U.S.-based manufacturer for approximately $17.3 million. The Russian company intended to use the turbine on a Russian Arctic deep-water drilling platform, expressly prohibited by the U.S. Department of Commerce unless a license is first obtained.

Read more: https://allongeorgia.com/georgia-public-safety/georgia-company-and-owner-sentenced-for-role-in-scheme-to-evade-u-s-national-security-trade-sanctions/