Hungarian national arrested on charges of conspiring to export 200 U.S. military-grade radios into Russia

A Hungarian citizen has been arrested in San Francisco on suspicion of conspiring to illegally export 200 pieces of U.S. military-grade radio communications equipment to Russian government end users, the US Attorney's Office at the District of Colombia said. Bencze Horváth, 46, is charged with conspiring to violate the U.S. Export Control Reform Act of 2018 ("ECRA").

According to the charges, Horváth and his associates operated a multinational procurement network that contracted directly with various agencies of the Russian government and worked on large-scale projects such as the construction of radio communications systems in the Kursk region of Russia, located along the Russian-Ukrainian border.

The man was arrested on 23 August when he arrived at San Francisco International Airport. The arrest and the charges were announced on Monday by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, along with the Assistant Attorney General for National Security and several special agents.

Horváth could face up to 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $1 million for violating the Export Control Reform Act.