Reuters reported on Wednesday that an American computer firm illegally provided a Russian missile company with information technology systems.
According to the news service, Extreme Networks (EXTR.O) helped the Russian state-owned MMZ Avangard outfit its office IT systems despite sanctions that were imposed in 2014 following Russia’s invasion of Crimea.
Reuters claims to have obtained “emails and other business records” belonging to Extreme Networks as well as conducted “interviews with people familiar with the matter.”
The business relationship between Extreme Networks and MMZ Avangard is said to have begun in 2017 and lasted until 2021.
Over half a million dollars worth of equipment said to have been sold
Reuters pointed to business records showing that MMZ Avangard “obtained over half a million dollars’ worth of Extreme equipment for its IT systems” during the time period in question.
“The products included high-speed switches, an essential building block of corporate IT networks, and software,” Reuters explained.
The news service cited a statement provided by Extreme Networks which acknowledged that its equipment “may have” been sold to MMZ Avangard via a surrogate purchaser.
However, the company went on to contend that any sales of equipment to MMZ Avangard were made without its knowledge.
Further, Extreme Networks asserted that a third-party Russian entity was “complicit” in any illegal transfer to “bad actors” and it has reported the sale to relevant U.S. authorities.
Earlier report found American components in recovered Russian missile
“Extreme, which trades on the NASDAQ exchange and is headquartered in Morrisville, North Carolina, has earned a solid reputation in the United States and is an official partner of the National Football League,” Reuters noted.
Wednesday’s report came following an earlier investigation that Reuters published this past August on how Russia’s government is continuing to acquire technology from companies in the U.S. and allied nations.
It described how a Russian missile collected on the battlefield in Ukraine contained components ” stamped with the names of American chip-makers, including Texas Instruments Inc; Altera, owned by Intel Corp; Xilinx, owned by Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD); and Maxim Integrated Products Inc, acquired last year by Analog Devices Inc.”