Bay Area man and his company indicted for smuggling sophisticated electrical components to Russia

SAN FRANCISCO — A Russian émigré to the United States was arrested Wednesday on charges that he and his corporate co-defendant illegally smuggled sophisticated electrical components out of the United States and used laundered funds to promote the scheme.

Pavel Semenovich Flider, 65, of San Rafael, and his company, Trident International Corporation, LLC, were indicted by a federal grand jury March 5 for smuggling goods; conspiracy to commit international money laundering; and money laundering. The case is the result of an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the FBI.

According to the indictment, Flider, a naturalized U.S. citizen, served as the co-owner and operator of Trident in San Francisco. Flider is accused of procuring electronic components from U.S. companies and smuggling them to Russia using transshipment points in Estonia and Finland, in violation of U.S. export law. In furtherance of the scheme, Flider and Trident allegedly submitted false and misleading information on Shipper’s Export Declarations, an official document required by the Department of Homeland Security for export shipments from the U.S. Funds used to purchase these electronic components came, at least in part, from transfers received from foreign banks.

Many of the components allegedly smuggled to Russia were dual-use programmable computer chips capable of operating in austere environments – making them useful in both civilian and military applications. Wire transfers that allegedly promoted the conspiracy totaled more than $60 million, and were received in San Francisco from banks located in multiple countries, including the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Cyprus and Hong Kong.

The indictment also seeks forfeiture of real and personal property connected to the alleged crimes, including proceeds traceable to the money laundering violations.

Flider remains in federal custody pending a formal detention hearing March 23. If convicted, he could face a maximum 20-year term of imprisonment for each money laundering-related count, and a maximum 10-year sentence for each smuggling violation. Trident faces a maximum fine of $500,000 for each money laundering count (or a fine of twice the value of the property used in the transaction) and a maximum fine of $ 250,000 for each of the smuggling counts.