Russian Nuclear Energy Official Admits to Arranging $2 Million in Illegal Payments from U.S. Company

MARYLAND

A Russian nuclear energy official residing in Maryland plead guilty Monday to conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with his role in arranging over $2 million in illegal payments in exchange for awarding Russian state-owned nuclear energy corporation contracts, according to authorities.

Vadim Mikerin, 56, of Chevy Chase, Maryland, plead guilty in federal court.

U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang scheduled sentencing on Dec. 8.

According to court documents, Mikerin was the president of TENAM Corporation and a director of the Pan American Department of JSC Techsnabexport or TENEX.

TENAM, based in Bethesda, Maryland, is a wholly-owned subsidiary and the official representative of TENEX in the United States.

TENEX, based in Moscow, acts as the sole supplier and exporter of Russian Federation uranium and uranium enrichment services to nuclear power companies worldwide.  TENEX is a subsidiary of Russia’s State Atomic Energy Corporation.

In connection with the scheme, Daren Condrey, 50, of Glenwood, Maryland, plead guilty on June 17, 2015, to conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and conspiring to commit wire fraud.  He will be sentenced on Nov. 2.

Boris Rubizhevsky, 64, of Closter, New Jersey, plead guilty on June 15, 2015, to conspiracy to commit money laundering. He will be sentenced on Oct. 19.

According to court documents, these are the facts surrounding this case:

• Between 2004 and October 2014, Mikerin conspired with Condrey, Rubizhevsky and others to transmit funds from Maryland and elsewhere in the United States to offshore shell company bank accounts located in Cyprus, Latvia and Switzerland.
• Mikerin admitted the funds were transmitted with the intent to promote a corrupt payment scheme that violated the FCPA.
• Specifically, he admitted that the corrupt payments were made by conspirators to influence Mikerin and to secure improper business advantages for U.S. companies that did business with TENEX.
• Mikerin further admitted that he and others used consulting agreements and code words such as “lucky figure,” “LF,” “cake” and “remuneration” to disguise the corrupt payments.
• Mikerin conspired with Condrey, Rubizhevsky and others to transfer approximately $2.1 million from the U.S. to offshore shell company bank accounts.

In his plea agreement, Mikerin agreed to the forfeit $2.1 million.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Energy and the FBI.