Israeli National Pleads Guilty to Export Control Violations
Gal Haimovich, 49, from Israel, admitted to conspiracy charges related to export control and smuggling violations. His plea stems from a scheme to illegally ship aircraft parts and avionics from U.S. manufacturers to Russia, including to sanctioned Russian airlines. Haimovich confessed to deceiving U.S. companies about the destination of these goods and submitting false export documents. His sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 22.
Haimovich owned an international freight forwarding company affiliated with a network operating in the U.S. and Israel. Through these companies, he facilitated the illegal export of goods to Russia, violating U.S. export control laws. From March 2022 to May 2023, he exported aircraft parts and avionics, including missile technology, to third-party transhippers for Russian clients. These clients directed Haimovich to mislead U.S. suppliers about the final destination of the shipments.
Between April 2022 and April 2023, following new U.S. restrictions in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Haimovich arranged over 160 shipments to companies in the Maldives and UAE, who then forwarded the goods to Russia. In one case, an air data module shipped in August 2022 was falsely declared as destined for the Maldives but was actually intended for Russia’s S7 Airlines.
Haimovich billed Russian customers, including S7 Airlines, over $2 million for these illegal exports. He agreed to a forfeiture money judgment of $2,024,435 and the forfeiture of various aircraft parts and components.
The Department of Commerce’s Office of Export Enforcement and the FBI investigated the case. The announcement was made by Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida, Executive Assistant Director Robert Wells of the FBI National Security Branch, and Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement Matthew S. Axelrod of the U.S. Commerce Department.
The prosecution is being handled by Trial Attorney Christopher M. Rigali of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Browne for the Southern District of Florida.
This case is coordinated through the Justice Department’s Task Force KleptoCapture, an interagency task force dedicated to enforcing sanctions, export controls, and economic measures against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. Established on March 2, 2022, the task force aims to combat efforts to evade U.S. government actions against Russian military aggression.
