Couple charged with illegally exporting rifle parts

1976 arms control act prohibits export of items without a permit

SAN FRANCISCO — A Hillsborough couple has been charged in connection with an alleged scheme to illegally export night vision rifle scope parts to Russia, federal authorities said.

Naum and Irina Morgovsky purchased the components, which included image intensifier tubes and lenses, through businesses they owned in the United States and shipped them to a night vision manufacturing company in Moscow partially owned by Naum Morgovsky, according to an indictment filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco.

The Arms Export Control Act of 1976 prohibits the export of such items without a permit from the federal government. The indictment alleges that the couple did not possess a permit.

The $200,000 the couple received in exchange for the components was laundered by Naum Morgovsky through a bank account in a dead person’s name, according to the indictment.

Naum and Irina Morgovsky are both charged with conspiracy to violate the Arms Export Control Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine, according to prosecutors.

In addition, Naum Morgovsky is charged with money laundering and Irina Morgovsky with misuse of a passport.

Naum Morgovsky and Mark Migdal of Portola Valley also have been charged in connection with an alleged scheme to defraud two banks through short sales of two rental properties in Hawaii, all using the stolen identity of a dead person, according to the indictment.

Charges in that case were filed in September.

Additional charges have been filed against Migdal, who is accused of submitting false statements to a federally insured bank to obtain loan modifications for his residence in Portola Valley and his rental property in Mountain View, according to the indictment.

All three defendants are scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.