The manager of a US freight forwarding company has been charged with flouting US export and sanction laws to ship items to Russia.
Natalya Ivanovna Mazulina worked as the Western regional manager of a forwarder that is unnamed in the US Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of Public Affairs release. The forwarder operates of John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA).
As alleged in the indictment, from at least December 2022 through December 2024, Mazulina conspired with Russian freight forwarding companies and others to unlawfully ship controlled items, including industrial oil and gas equipment from the US to Russia, through intermediary countries. Mazulina attempted to conceal the unlawful scheme by submitting false export documents to the US government, according to the US DOJ.
Mazulina is charged with conspiracy to export controlled goods to Russia without a license, conspiracy to defraud the US, conspiracy to commit money laundering, exporting controlled goods to Russia without a license, filing false export documents with the US government, and smuggling goods contrary to US law.
If convicted, she faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each count of conspiring to export or exporting controlled goods to Russia without a license; a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for conspiring to commit money laundering; up to 10 years in prison for each count of smuggling; and a maximum penalty of five years in prison for each count of conspiracy and filing false export documents with the US government.
“The defendant exploited her knowledge of the export business to falsify documents and circumvent U.S. sanctions by illegally shipping oil and gas products to Russian customers,” said assistant attorney general Matthew Olsen of the National Security Division.
“American companies like the freight forwarder where Mazulina worked play a critical role in the global supply chain and movement of goods. The National Security Division will not tolerate individuals who seek to abuse their positions in these companies for financial gain at the expense of national security.”
The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have been investigating the case.
The investigation was coordinated through the Justice Department’s Task Force KleptoCapture, an interagency law enforcement task force dedicated to enforcing the sanctions, export controls and economic countermeasures that the US, along with its foreign allies and partners, imposed in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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