N.H. Man and 6 Others Indicted for Alleged Involvement in Russian Smuggling Ring
A New Hampshire man is named in a federal indictment for allegedly sending equipment used in nuclear testing to Russia.
Alexey Brayman, along with six others, was accused of purchasing and then sending "millions of dollars in military and sensitive dual-use technologies from U.S. manufacturers and vendors" to Russia, according to court documents obtained by CBS News in Boston.
Per the outlet, documents allege Brayman "repeatedly used the New Hampshire Residence as a transshipment point for repackaging sensitive military-grade (sic) and export-controlled items and forwarding them to intermediate locations in Europe and Asia, from where they were transshipped to Russia."
Brayman was arrested early Tuesday and went to court in Concord, New Hampshire, before he was released from custody on a $150,000 bond, The Boston Globe reported. Brayman, who was reportedly born in Ukraine and is currently a citizen of Israel, also had to give authorities his passport and has to adhere to travel limits and a curfew.
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He and his wife, Daria Brayman, sold night lights via their craft store on Etsy from their Merrimack, New Hampshire, home, per The Boston Globe. Daria previously denied having any knowledge of her husband's alleged activities and told reporters, "We do craft festivals and fairs."
Federal authorities are comparing the alleged conspiracy to FX's The Americans, which followed a pair of married Russian spies who pretended to be Americans living in Washington, D.C.
"I'm stunned," the Braymans' neighbor Ken Howard told CBS News of the indictment.
"Blending into this neighborhood isn't hard. You stay in the house, you know," he said, noting that Alexey and Daria were a private couple.
Another neighbor, Mike Benoit, told the CBS affiliate, "It's crazy. You just never know who's in your neighborhood and what they're doing behind closed doors. I mean pretty normal house. You can see they put their lawn ornaments out to decorate."
Members of the community also told WMUR-TV in Manchester, New Hampshire, that the couple has lived in the home for some years and that they often saw packages being delivered there. However, the neighbors say they didn't have any suspicions because the couple also ran their Etsy shop from the home.
Daria is not included in the 16-count indictment, which was filed in the Eastern District of New York and alleged Alexey had "advanced electronics and sophisticated testing equipment used in quantum computing, hypersonic and nuclear weapons development and other military and space-based military applications," The Boston Globe reported.
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Fake companies led by Russian executives allegedly sent Alexey small portions of the equipment at a time. He would then send the items to Germany and Estonia, which are "common transshipment points for items ultimately destined for Russia," authorities said in the indictment, per the outlet.
They added that the items in question "could make a significant contribution to the military potential or nuclear proliferation of other nations or that could be detrimental to the . . . national security of the United States," according to The Boston Globe.
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"The charged offenses are extremely serious. The defendants are charged with participating in a transnational fraud, money laundering and sanctions evasion scheme controlled by a foreign power that is actively engaged in armed conflict," U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a court document filed Tuesday in New York, CBS News reported.
Yevgeniy Grinin, Aleksey Ippolitov, Boris Livshits, Svetlana Skvortsova, Vadim Konoshchenok, and Vadim Yermolenko were also indicted, per The Boston Globe.
Alexey is scheduled to appear in court again in February, per CBS News.
David Lazarus, an attorney for Brayman, did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.
