Man accused of being Russia agent appears in court

HOUSTON (AP) — A naturalized U.S. citizen accused of illicitly obtaining military cutting-edge microelectronics for Russia formally heard the charges against him Thursday in a case reminiscent of the Cold War era.

Alexander Fishenko and six others made their initial appearance Thursday in Houston federal court. They did not enter pleas. An eighth defendant appeared in court Wednesday.

An indictment unsealed Wednesday accuses Fishenko of scheming to purposely evade strict export controls for cutting-edge microelectronics. It also charges Fishenko with money laundering and operating inside the United States as an unregistered agent of the Russian government.

“We're going to examine the charges very critically,” said his attorney, Eric Reed. “There are some dramatic allegations in the indictment that we want to take a hard look at.”

Fishenko was born in the former Soviet Union in what is now Kazakhstan and owns Houston-based Arc Electronics Inc. He and seven others were arrested following raids there by the FBI.

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