A manager for a Jamaica-based international freight forwarding company operating out of JFK International Airport was indicted by a federal grand jury for her alleged involvement in a scheme to circumvent U.S. export laws and sanctions on Russia implemented following the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Natalya Ivanovna Mazulina, 41, was arrested Tuesday in Seattle after a 12-count indictment was unsealed in Brooklyn federal court for facilitating shipments of controlled industrial equipment to Russia out of JFK and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
Mazulina, a naturalized U.S. citizen living in the Seattle area, will be arraigned in the Eastern District of New York at a later date. The name of the Jamaica-based company she worked for is known only to federal prosecutors and the grand jury.
“Evading U.S. export regulations presents a danger to our national security,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said. “And we will continue to use all of our law enforcement and national security tools [to] make sure these enablers, both individuals and corporations, cannot operate in our district.”
As alleged in the indictment, from at least December 2022 through this month, Mazulina conspired with Russian freight forwarding companies and others to unlawfully ship controlled items, including industrial oil and gas equipment, from the U.S. to Russia through intermediary countries.
At one point, in June 2023, Mazulina told colleagues that her clients were paying through bank accounts in third-party countries because they were sanctioned by the U.S. Mazulina attempted to conceal the unlawful scheme by submitting and causing the submission of false export documents to the U.S. government, documents which should have revealed that the exported goods were destined for Russia.
“Collaborating with foreign actors to evade U.S. export controls is a serious national security violation,” Department of Commerce Special Agent in Charge James Guanci said. “The Office of Export Enforcement, alongside its law enforcement partners, will continue to aggressively investigate efforts to illicitly fuel Russia’s wartime economy.”
Mazulina is charged with conspiracy to export controlled goods to Russia without a license, conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to commit money laundering, smuggling goods contrary to U.S. law, and other related crimes. If convicted, Mazulina faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each count of conspiring to export or exporting controlled goods to Russia without a license, up to 20 years in prison for conspiracy to commit money laundering, and up to 10 years in prison for each count of smuggling.
According to the indictment, Mazulina was familiar with the controls concerning exports to Russia and knew that her conduct was illegal.
“The defendant exploited her knowledge of the export business to falsify documents and circumvent U.S. sanctions by illegally shipping oil and gas products to Russian customers,” Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen said. “American companies like the freight forwarder where Mazulina worked play a critical role in the global supply chain and movement of goods. The National Security Division will not tolerate individuals who seek to abuse their positions in these companies for financial gain at the expense of national security.”
