[DEVELOPING] FBI Activity In Sheepshead Bay On Avenue Z
The FBI appeared to raid the building at 2101 Avenue Z on the corner of East 21 Street this morning, according to a reader of ours, Diana Saez Rivera.
Rivera saw the FBI peering into the apartment windows of the building at around 8:45am this morning. hey were trying to figure out what to do or they may have gone into the apartments and no one was there so they were discussing it outside
“They were trying to figure out what to do or they may have gone into the apartments and no one was there so they were discussing it outside,” speculated Rivera.
Rivera estimated that there were 20 to 25 FBI agents at the scene. She said she saw them come out of the side entrance of the building carrying what looked like a rolled up rug.
They pulled a white van in front of the property and brought equipment from the van into the building, according to Rivera.
The ground floor tenant of the building is the NorthWest Group, an IT management and consulting firm.
We are currently trying to find out what is going on and will update as soon as we know more. Stay tuned.
[Update 11:10am]: NorthWest Group would not comment on what is happening at the scene. An FBI spokesperson said they have no record of an FBI presence at the location, but Rivera confirmed that the people she saw were wearing uniforms that said “FBI” on them.
[Update 11:50am]: Our reporter on the ground, Joseph De La Cruz, said that the FBI agents are removing equipment from the NorthWest Group office. It doesn’t appear anyone has been arrested.
[Update 5:11pm]: Alexey Barysheff, a Russian immigrant and naturalized US citizen, was arrested in Brooklyn today on federal charges of illegally shipping controlled technology out of the US to Russia. While he was being arrested, Aleksandrovich Karpenko and Alexey Krutilin, both Russian nationals, were arrested in Denver, Colorado for conspiring with Barysheff in the scheme, according to the US Department of Justice.
Federal agents searched two locations in Brooklyn that were apparently fronts for Barysheff’s conspiracy, according to the Justice Departement. We could not confirm with the Justice Department or the FBI that NorthWest, the property that was searched by the FBI this morning, was involved in this scheme.
The three men who were arrested today obtained microelectronics such as digital to analog converters and integrated circuits, which are frequently used in military systems, and shipped them to Russia, according to the Justice Department.
“These electronic devices required a license from the Department of Commerce to be exported to Russia and have been restricted for anti-terrorism and national security reasons,” reads a Justice Department press release.
“These laws are in place to protect the national security, and we will spare no effort in pursuing and holding accountable those who seek to harm the national security by illegally procuring strategic commodities for foreign entities,” said Assistant Attorney General John Carlin.
Additional reporting by Joseph De La Cruz