21 – The Baryseff Affair

The Barysheff case involved a naturalized U.S. citizen in Brooklyn and two Russian nationals who were arrested in Denver as part of an alleged scheme to illegally ship microelectronics to the Russian Federation. Barysheff ran a series of locations in New York which served as front companies in the scheme.[1] Barysheff’s companies in New York allegedly provided false end user certificates presenting themselves as the user of the electronics, when in actuality, the electronics were shipped to Finland and then on to Russia without a license. Barysheff’s companies lied to the Commerce Department about the contents of packages it was sending out of the country.[2] This tactic is used by smugglers and export license violators alike because it plays on the fact that customs officials at ports cannot check every package, and if they do conduct a check, most port officials do not have the technical knowledge to identify many dual use goods.

According to U.S. officials, Barysheff’s network transshipped the goods to Finland.[3] Finland has been a popular transshipment point for dual use goods into Russia since the Cold War.[4] Easy water and land access from Finland’s main ports to Russia’s second city of Saint Petersburg makes the route convenient. Finland’s role as a neutral country (until recently) makes it a less suspicious destination than Russia proper.