The U.S. Justice Department has accused a 57-year-old Indian national of planning to illegally send restricted American aviation parts to Russia.

The Department of Justice announced in a press release on Friday that Sanjay Kaushik was indicted on Thursday after being apprehended in Miami on October 17. He was charged with conspiring to violate the Export Control Reform Act by unlawfully exporting aviation components to Russian end customers that had both military and civilian uses. Kaushik is accused of trying to illegally export a navigation and flight control system from Oregon to Russia through India. He is also charged with making false statements related to the export.

Nevertheless, if he was found guilty, he could face up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $1 million for each charge. Court documents say that starting in March 2023, after Russia invaded Ukraine, Kaushik worked with others to illegally acquire aerospace goods and technology from the US for Russian entities. The goods were bought under the false claim that they would be supplied to Kaushik and his Indian company, but they were actually meant for Russian buyers, according to the press release.

In one such case, according to federal authorities, Kaushik and his accomplices bought an Attitude Heading Reference System (AHRS) from a supplier in Oregon. The AHRS is a system that gives aircraft navigation and flight control information. However, for components like the AHRS to be exported to some nations, including Russia, a license from the Department of Commerce is required. “To obtain an export license for the AHRS, Kaushik and his co-conspirators falsely claimed that Kaushik’s Indian company was the end purchaser and that the component would be used in a civilian helicopter," said federal prosecutors.

"Kaushik and his co-conspirators obtained the AHRS – which was ultimately detained before it was exported from the United States – on behalf of and with the intention of shipping it, through India, to a customer in Russia,” they added.