Hungarian Charged With Exporting Military-Grade Radios to Russia

Hungarian national Bence Horvath was charged with violating U.S. export controls on Russia by conspiring to ship radio communications technology to Russian government end users without a license, DOJ announced Aug. 26. Horvath is charged with one count of conspiring to violate the Export Control Reform Act of 2018.

The Hungarian man allegedly operated a "multinational procurement network" that worked with Russian government entities on large scale projects, including the construction of "operational radio communications systems in Russia's Kursk region," which sits on the border with Ukraine. DOJ alleged that Horvath tried to buy the U.S.-origin goods and smuggle the goods to the end-users through affiliates in Spain, Serbia, Hungary, Latvia "and elsewhere."

Horvath and others opened talks with a "small U.S. radio distribution company" in January 2023 to procure and ship to Russia U.S.-made "military-grade radios and related accessories," DOJ said. Horvath bought 200 of the radios and intended to ship them to Russia using a Latvian freight forwarder. CBP detained the shipment before it could leave.

Matthew Axelrod, assistant secretary for export enforcement at the Bureau of Industry and Security, said "targeting illicit global procurement networks that operate in the shadows to equip the Russian government is of the highest priority to BIS." Matthew Olsen, chief of DOJ’s National Security Division, said the agency is "committed to disrupting and holding accountable criminal networks" that violate U.S. trade laws against Russia.