FBI arrests Russian national for illegal defense trade in Florida

Vladivostok businessman Dmitrii Makarenko owns six companies, including one currently constructing Kalina Mall, a large new shopping complex in the city. A man by the same name was arrested in the Northern Mariana Islands on December 29 and charged in the United States with money laundering and conspiracy to export defense articles without a license.

The Guam Daily Post reported that an indictment and an arrest warrant were issued against a Russian citizen named Dmitrii Makarenko on June 15, 2017, in a Florida district court. Makarenko allegedly placed multiple orders for military-grade defense equipment such as ammunition primers, night vision devices, and thermal vision devices to be acquired by his co-defendant, Vladimir Nevidomy. According to the indictment, Nevidomy was born in Ukraine and lived in Hallandale Beach, Florida. He also owned a corporation called Primex Group, Inc., in Miami-Dade County. Nevidomy procured military-grade items from U.S. vendors and shipped them to Russia for Makarenko, the indictment states. Nevidomy entered a guilty plea in June and was sentenced to 26 months in prison.

On January 5, the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs affirmed that Makarenko had been arrested in the Saipan airport after landing there with his family, according to a detailed report by The Bell. The Ministry also provided Makarenko’s patronymic (a middle name derived from its holder’s father’s first name). The defendant’s first name, patronymic, and family name all match those of the Vladivostok business owner, and The Bell reports that the defendant in the U.S. legal case is a resident of Vladivostok. The influential entrepreneur collaborates closely with his apparent father-in-law Valery Fintisov, who himself has business ties with Russia’s Minister for Development in the Far East Viktor Ishayev.