Anna Fermanova, a young Russian beautician, is facing a federal felony charge in Texas for allegedly trying to smuggle night vision scopes to Moscow – This new revelation comes just weeks after the feds broke up a massive Russian spy ring, according to a bombshell new report made public today, New York Post reports.
Anna Fermanova, 24, was busted on July 15 when she returned to the US after spending four months overseas. She was charged with ‘knowingly and intentionally’ attempting to export ‘from the United States to Russia defense articles on the United States Munitions list.’ The state-of-the-art night vision goggles cannot be exported without pre-approval from the Department of State since the items are considered weapons, officials said. Fermanova told thesmokinggun.com that the charges were ‘false allegations’ and ‘too sensitive to be discussed.’
Fermanova works in Moscow giving English lessons to Russian students. Her lawyer, Scott Palmer, called the case ‘really silly,’ adding that Fermanova’s husband planned to resell the night vision scopes to hunters.
Palmer declined to discuss where Fermanova came up with the $15,000 to purchase the three devices. He also said Fermanova emigrated with her parents to the United States from Latvia when she was a young girl and is currently an American citizen.
According to her Facebook page, she is a 2005 graduate of the Ogle School of Hair Skin and Nails, and Texas state records show that she holds a cosmetologist license expiring next August.
Federal prosecutors in Dallas asked a judge to jail Fermanova without bail – a request that was denied by Judge Renee Harris Toliver.
She was eventually released on $50,000 bond, but her passport was seized and she was placed on 24-hour-a-day home incarceration because the feds argued she was a flight risk.
The arrest warrant for Fermanova was signed a day after Russian spy Anna Chapman and nine others pleaded guilty to federal charges and were deported.
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement began to probe Fermanova in February when a confidential informant reported that she was seeking to acquire a $7,000 ‘Raptor 4X Night Vision Weapons Sight.’
The source told officials that Fermanova ‘had previously acquired a similar night vision scope.’
In a sworn affidavit, ICE Agent David Mondanaro said the Raptor 4X was an advanced ‘generation 3’ sighting device ‘designed to be affixed to a rifle, such as the M4 assault rifle.’
When investigators confronted Fermanova, she admitted to buying the scopes online.
Asked if she was aware of regulations covering the export of such equipment, Fermanova said that she had ‘signed something about that,’ but was ‘not really sure what she was signing.’
However, there was evidence that Fermanova understood that bringing the scopes to Russia was not permitted.
‘There were no visible identification stickers or markings on any of the night vision devices’ and some ID numbers ‘had been covered with black marker pen,’ Mondanaro said.
After returning to the US two weeks ago, Fermanova was arrested on a warrant issued by a federal magistrate in Brooklyn. She is expected to soon travel from her home in Plano, a Dallas suburb, to New York to be arraigned on the felony rap, which carries a maximum 10-year prison term.
Kazbegi news 