Spies next door: Suburban New Hampshire husband accused of smuggling sensitive technology to Russia

ABCNews logo
Wednesday, December 14, 2022
Suburban New Hampshire man among 7 charged in spy ring
Thirty-five-year-old Alexey Brayman is one of seven indicted by federal authorities for allegedly purchasing and shipping advanced electronics and sophisticated testing equipment from the U.S. to the Kremlin.

MERRIMACK, New Hampshire -- Seven people have been charged with shipping sensitive U.S. technology to Russia.

Among those arrested was a New Hampshire man accused of using his quiet suburban home as part of the smuggling ring.

Thirty-five-year-old Alexey Brayman is one of seven indicted by federal authorities for allegedly purchasing and shipping advanced electronics and sophisticated testing equipment from the U.S. to the Kremlin.

His wife, Daria Brayman, has not been charged with a crime.

"One thing very odd I noticed is that there's always a lot of boxes there. And I didn't know anything about it. Did they have some sort of online business? I don't know," neighbor Jeff Child said.

Brayman allegedly operated out of his quaint suburban home in the town of Merrimack, which is currently festively decorated with Frosty the Snowman and Santa Claus inflatables.

The Brayman family has been living a seemingly picturesque American life, seen in pictures posted to social media attending a Boston Celtics NBA game, trips to the zoo and running an online craft store.

But behind closed doors, court documents claim items were repackaged and reshipped to several intermediate locations in Europe and Asia before arriving in Russia.

Those items included bullets and materials used to develop hypersonic and nuclear weapons that could be used by the Russian military.

This comes as Russia's nearly yearlong war in Ukraine continues to escalate on the battlefield.

"The U.S. government takes extremely seriously items that are going to places like Russia, China, Iran. They have reported in some of these previous cases where items illegally purchased by these front or shell companies ended up on the battlefield in Ukraine," ABC News contributor and former FBI Special Agent Brad Garrett said.

Brayman's attorney David Lazarus said in an email to the Associated Press that his client has not been convicted of anything and is entitled to the presumption of innocence.

Brayman and six others have been charged with conspiracy, money laundering, smuggling, and bank and wire fraud.