President of Metalhouse LLC Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Launder Over $150 Million to Promote Russian Sanctions Violations

The president of Metalhouse LLC, John Can Unsalan, also known as Hurrem Can Unsalan, has pleaded guilty to engaging in a conspiracy to commit money laundering aimed at promoting violations of U.S. sanctions. The illicit scheme involved conducting transactions to acquire over $150 million in metal products from companies owned by Sergey Kurchenko, a sanctioned Russian oligarch.

Sergey Kurchenko had been sanctioned by the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in 2015 due to his involvement in the misappropriation of state assets in Ukraine or economically significant Ukrainian entities.

Unsalan's legal troubles began in April when a grand jury in the Middle District of Florida issued a 22-count indictment against him. The indictment included charges such as conspiring to violate and evade U.S. sanctions under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), multiple counts of violating IEEPA, conspiring to commit international money laundering, and engaging in international money laundering.

Court documents reveal that from July 2018 to October 2021, Unsalan collaborated with others to transfer more than $150 million to Kurchenko and his sanctioned companies. These funds were used for trade purposes, specifically to procure steelmaking equipment and raw materials. This was done despite Unsalan's awareness of the U.S. sanctions against Kurchenko and his entities, which prohibited such business dealings. Unsalan and his associates received tens of thousands of tons of metal products from these companies and agreed to share the profits from these unlawful transactions. Importantly, no licenses from OFAC were sought or issued for these payments or transfers.

Unsalan pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Wendy W. Berger in Orlando, Florida, to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering to promote violations of the IEEPA. This charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Additionally, Unsalan has agreed to forfeit $160,416,948.56, representing the proceeds he obtained as a result of the conspiracy. As part of the plea agreement, the remaining counts of the indictment will be dismissed. The final sentence will be determined by a federal district court judge after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other relevant statutory factors.

A co-conspirator in the case, Sergey Karpushkin, pleaded guilty on September 13 and also agreed to forfeit over $4.7 million in criminal proceeds.

The investigation was jointly conducted by the FBI Tampa and Washington Field Offices, with valuable assistance provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Prosecution of the case is being led by Assistant U.S. Attorney Chauncey A. Bratt for the Middle District of Florida, Trial Attorney Sean O’Dowd of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section, and Trial Attorney Emma Ellenrieder of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.

This investigation was coordinated through the Justice Department’s Task Force KleptoCapture, an interagency law enforcement task force dedicated to enforcing sanctions, export controls, and economic countermeasures imposed in response to Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine. The task force, established by the Attorney General in March 2022, aims to combat efforts to evade or undermine the actions taken by the U.S. government and its allies and partners in response to Russian military aggression.