” A lot of money ? We’re going to get rich! » rejoiced Kristina Puzyreva in a message sent to her partner in January 2023. The resident of the West Island of Montreal dreamed of making a fortune by secretly supplying the Russian army with electronic components, as part of the war in Ukraine. A year later, she has just pleaded guilty in an American court and risks a heavy prison sentence.
Kristina Puzyreva, a 32-year-old resident of Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy on Monday in Brooklyn. The woman was arrested in a Manhattan hotel with her partner Nikolay Goltsev last November. The couple, who have dual Russian and Canadian nationality, have been detained in the United States ever since.
A man suspected of being the couple’s accomplice, a Brooklyn resident who has dual Russian and Tajik nationality, was also arrested and dozens of boxes of semiconductors and other electronic components seized from his home.
According to the initial indictment filed in court, the couple allegedly organized a network that supplied the Russian army with strategic electronic components, systems whose export is restricted by law and which were used by the Russian army in missiles, tanks, drones, helicopters and other military equipment during the invasion of Ukraine. American investigators say that the equipment delivered thanks to the Quebec couple was traced to the battlefield.
The lawsuit alleges that the couple residing in Quebec often visited New York, where Kristina Puzyreva multiplied deposits of large sums of cash into American bank accounts. The funds were then redirected to the couple’s bank accounts in Canada. The messages exchanged by the participants and intercepted by investigators were filed as evidence in court.
The couple was awaiting trial, but on Monday the woman decided to cut the process short. She pleaded guilty to a single charge following discussions with the prosecution, which was approved by the judge. She will receive her sentence next September.
Long-standing relationship
“The defendant in this case violated our sanctions and export restriction laws by plotting to send sensitive missile and other weapons components to Russia, which were then found in Russian weapons on the spot. battle in Ukraine,” U.S. Federal Prosecutor Lisa O. Monaco said in a statement. The press release specifies that the thirty-year-old faces up to 20 years in prison. His decision to plead guilty, however, risks working in his favor when determining the sentence.
PHOTO FROM FACEBOOK
Kristina Puzyreva and her partner Nikolay Goltsev
The spouse of Mme Puzyreva still faces several charges of conspiracy, fraud and smuggling. In court documents filed in court by the American justice system, Nikolay Goltsev is described as having a “long-standing” relationship with his contacts in Russia. The 37-year-old man is believed to have supplied the Russian army for more than 12 years, according to American investigators.
According to an affidavit from a US federal agent filed in court in Brooklyn, Goltsev received orders from his Russian contacts and used two front companies established in New York to purchase the coveted parts from American suppliers.
Significant amounts
“In the span of a year, this criminal organization circumvented United States sanctions and laws, and managed to send more than 300 shipments of restricted export items, with an estimated value of approximately $10 million dollars, to the Russian battlefield,” American authorities said when the charges were filed.
Authorities seized $1.68 million in the investigation, in addition to $20,000 in cash discovered in the couple’s New York hotel room.
Goltsev previously worked for an electronic components company in the Saint-Laurent borough, Electronic Network. The company was sanctioned by the U.S. government in connection with the export of parts to Russia last winter.