A ‘fake civilian helicopter' deal landed a Delhi businessman in US prison for 2.5 years — Here's how

Sanjay Kaushik, a 58-year-old businessman from Delhi, was sentenced by a US federal court to 2.5 years (30 months) in prison, followed by three years (36 months) of supervised release, for conspiring to illegally export controlled aviation components, including a navigation and flight control system, to end users in Russia.

According to an official release from the US Department of Justice's Office of Public Affairs, Kaushik was sentenced on 15 January, for “conspiring to illegally export aviation components from Oregon (US) to Russia”.

Here's how events unfolded:

Here's how a ‘fake civilian helicopter’ deal landed Delhi businessman Sanjay Kaushik in a US prison.

• According to the DOJ press note, “goods were purchased under the false pretense that they would be supplied to Kaushik and his Indian company, when in fact they were destined for Russian end users”.
• Kaushik and his co-conspirators purchased an Attitude and Heading Reference System (AHRS) from an Oregon-based supplier “on behalf of and with the intention of shipping it, through India, to a customer in Russia”.
• AHRS is a device that provides navigation and flight control data for aircraft.
• Notably, US regulations mandate that components such as AHRS require a license from the Department of Commerce for export to certain countries, including Russia.
• To obtain this license, Kaushik and his co-conspirators “falsely claimed that Kaushik’s Indian company was the end purchaser and that the component would be used in a civilian helicopter”, the release said.

• The AHRS was ultimately detained before it was exported from the US to a customer in Russia.
• Kaushik was arrested in Miami, Florida (US), on 17 October 2024, pursuant to a criminal complaint and arrest warrant and has remained in custody since then, the statement added.
• BIS Portland investigated the case with assistance from Homeland Security Investigations and US Customs and Border Protection.
• US Attorney for the District of Oregon Scott E Bradford called it a “calculated, profit-driven scheme involving repeated transactions, substantial gains, and coordination with foreign co-conspirators”.
• Gregory R Nyhus, Assistant US Attorney for the District of Oregon, and Trial Attorney Emma Ellenrieder of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section prosecuted the case.

Indian in US prison: What happens to Sanjay Kaushik?

According to the press note, which cites the court documents, the proceedings began in early September 2023. The US Justice Department accused Kaushik of violating the Export Control Reform Act, and a federal court sentenced the 58-year-old to 30 months in federal prison and 36 months of supervised release.

• A federal grand jury in Portland on 20 November 2024 charged Kaushik with three counts of conspiring and attempting to export products in violation of the Export Control Reform Act and the Export Administration Regulations.
• The indictment says that he specifically attempted to illegally export a navigation and flight control system from Oregon to Russia through India and made false statements in connection with an export.
• On 9 October 2025, Kaushik pled guilty to count one of the indictments — conspiring to sell export-controlled aviation components with dual civilian and military applications to end users in Russia.

Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A Eisenberg, in the release, said that those who “scheme to circumvent US export control laws—especially when it involves technologies with military applications—will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”