Probe looks at Pa. sports stores in illegally exported weapons

Authorities think two stores have made eight illegal exports.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Federal authorities are investigating whether two Pennsylvania sporting goods stores illegally exported weapons and did business with individuals the government has linked to war crimes and drug trafficking, authorities confirmed Friday.
No charges have been filed against the D & amp;R Sports Center stores in Nanticoke and Bloomsburg or their owners, brothers Mark and Theodore Komoroski.
But authorities believe the stores have been illegally exporting binoculars, firearms and other equipment to Russia, Kuwait, Germany and Japan without the required federal license, according to court documents.
Watch list
Authorities also are investigating whether the stores have done business with individuals on a Treasury Department watch list who the government says "pose an unacceptable risk of being involved with" international drug trafficking, crimes against humanity, war crimes or terrorism. Americans are prohibited from doing business with anyone on the list.
Authorities believe the stores have made eight illegal exports since February 2005 worth nearly 248,000, according to a search warrant application and affidavit filed Nov. 7 in federal court in Scranton.
Federal agents searched the Bloomsburg store the next day for records and documents, said John Hageman, spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Philadelphia, who declined to say what was found.
"It's still an ongoing investigation," Hageman said Friday. "There's a lot of evidence to be reviewed."
Mark Komoroski said Friday he was not immediately prepared to comment.
Certain items not allowed
Certain sophisticated weapons and accessories, such as high-tech night vision equipment, cannot be exported without permission from the State Department. The affidavit alleges that the items were exported -- in one case to a Russian special forces unit -- by use of falsified correspondence and shipping documents.
The affidavit also alleges that a bank account controlled by D & amp;R received wire transfers from Rockman EOOD, a company owned by Sergey Bout that is on the Treasury Department watch list. Bout is the brother of Russian arms dealer Victor Bout, who authorities said is on the list because he has provided weapons to former Liberian dictator Charles Taylor, rebel groups in Rwanda and the Taliban, the affidavit says.
Authorities allege that a wire transfer to D & amp;R from Kuwait came from Ibrahim Hajji, who was indicted in New Jersey under the "kingpin" statute for conspiracy to traffic heroin into the United States, the affidavit says.
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