As Joon H. Kim, the U.S. Attorney’s for the Southern
District of New York, notes in the below released information, this is the first federal racketeering charges ever brought against a Russian "vor," more commonly known as the "Russia Mafia."
While the theft of 10,000 pounds of chocolate is laughable, the other crimes are far more serious.
You can read the U.S. Attorney's statement below:
Joon H. Kim, the Acting
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, William F. Sweeney Jr., Assistant
Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (“FBI”), Leon Hayward, Acting Director of the New York Field
Office of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and James P. O’Neill, the
Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), announced the
unsealing of three Indictments and one Complaint charging 33 defendants with a variety
of racketeering, fraud, narcotics, firearms, and stolen property offenses.
Of the charged defendants, 27
are associated with a nationwide racketeering enterprise led by RAZHDEN SHULAYA
and ZURAB DZHANASHVILI and are charged in United States v. Razhden Shulaya, et
al. (the “Shulaya Indictment”) and an accompanying superseding indictment,
which has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Katherine B. Forrest. Of those
defendants, 23 were taken into federal custody. 18 will be presented before
U.S. Magistrate Judge Gabriel W. Gorenstein today. One defendant will be
presented in the District of Nevada.
Three defendants will be presented in the Southern District of
Florida. DENIS SAVGIR, EREKLE
KERESELIDZE, GIORGI LOMISHVILI, MAMUKA CHAGANAVA, and SEMYON SARAIDAROV remain
at large. One defendant, TIMUR SUYUNOV, is currently detained in federal
custody and will be brought to Manhattan federal court on a writ.
Two additional defendants are
charged in United States v. Nikoloz Jikia, et al. (the “Marat-Uulu Complaint”),
with conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and with additional firearms
offenses. Of those defendants, one of
whom is also charged in the Shulaya Indictment, both were taken into federal
custody last evening and will be presented before Judge Gorenstein today.
Three additional defendants
are charged in United States v. Alex Fishman, et al. (the “Fishman
Indictment”), which has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Richard J.
Sullivan. Each of those three defendants
was taken into federal custody today and will be presented before Judge
Gorenstein this afternoon.
Finally, one additional
defendant was charged in United States v. Sergey Gindinov (the “Gindinov
Indictment”), which has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Alison J.
Nathan. GINDINOV was taken into federal
custody today and will be presented this afternoon before Judge Gorenstein.
Acting Manhattan U.S.
Attorney Joon H. Kim said: “Today, we
have charged 33 members and associates of a Russian organized crime syndicate
allegedly engaging a panoply of crimes around the country. The indictments
include charges against the alleged head of this national criminal enterprise,
one of the first federal racketeering charges ever brought against a Russian
‘vor.’ The dizzying array of criminal schemes committed by this organized crime
syndicate allegedly include a murder-for-hire conspiracy, a plot to rob victims
by seducing and drugging them with chloroform, the theft of cargo shipments
containing over 10,000 pounds of chocolate, and a fraud on casino slot machines
using electronic hacking devices. Thanks to the remarkable interagency
partnership of FBI, CBP, and NYPD, we have charged and arrested 33 defendants
allegedly involved in this criminal enterprise.”
FBI Assistant
Director-in-Charge William F. Sweeney Jr. said:
“The suspects in this case cast a wide net of criminal activity, aiming
to make as much money as possible, all allegedly organized and run by a man who
promised to protect them. But that protection didn't include escaping justice
and being arrested by the agents and detectives on the FBI New York Eurasian
Organized Crime Task Force. Our partnerships with other FBI field offices, the
NYPD and CBP allows us to do everything we can to go after criminals who don't
believe the law applies to them.”
Acting CBP New York Director
Leon Hayward said: “U.S. Customs and
Border Protection is extremely proud to have assisted our federal partners in
this operation. It is through our
interagency partnerships, and collaborative approaches like the one leading to
today’s arrests, that law enforcement successfully combats modern criminal
organizations.”
NYPD Commissioner James P.
O’Neill said: “The Thief-in-Law
allegedly established an extensive cross country criminal enterprise from
Brighton Beach to Las Vegas that engaged in bribes, gambling, and murder for
hire. Thanks to all whose work resulted
in the arrest and indictment of 33 today.”
According to the allegations
in the Indictments and Complaint unsealed today in Manhattan federal court:[1]
The Shulaya Enterprise was an
organized criminal group operating under the direction and protection of
RAZHDEN SHULAYA a/k/a “Brother,” a/k/a “Roma,” a “vor v zakonei” or “vor,”
which are Russian phrases translated roughly as “thief-in-law” or “thief,” and
which refer to an order of elite criminals from the former Soviet Union who
receive tribute from other criminals, offer protection, and use their
recognized status as vor to adjudicate disputes among lower-level criminals. As a vor, SHULAYA had substantial influence
in the criminal underworld and offered assistance to and protection of the
members and associates of the Shulaya Enterprise. Those members and associates, and SHULAYA
himself, engaged in widespread criminal activities, including acts of violence,
extortion, the operation of illegal gambling businesses, fraud on various
casinos, identity theft, credit card frauds, and trafficking of large
quantities of stolen goods.
The Shulaya Enterprise
comprised groups of individuals, often with overlapping members or associates,
dedicated to particular criminal tasks.
While many of these crews were based in New York City, the Shulaya
Enterprise had operations in various locations throughout the United States
(including in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Florida, and Nevada) and abroad. Most members and associates of the Shulaya
Enterprise were born in the former Soviet Union and many maintained substantial
ties to Georgia, the Ukraine, and the Russian Federation, including regular
travel to those countries, communication with associates in those countries,
and the transfer of criminal proceeds to individuals in those countries.
The Shulaya Enterprise was
led principally by SHULAYA and ZURAB DZHANASHVILI, a/k/a “Zura,” his
lieutenant. Along with SHULAYA and
DZHANASHVILI, AKAKI UBILAVA, a/k/a “Ako,” HAMLET UGLAVA, MAMUKA CHAGANAVA,
MIKHEIL TORADZE, NAZO GAPRINDASHVILI, a/k/a “Anna,” ARTUR VINOKUROV, a/k/a
“Rizhy,” EVGHENI MELMAN, TIMUR SUYUNOV, ZURAB BUZIASHVILI, GIORGI LOMISHVILI,
AZER ARSLANOUK, IVAN AFANASYEV, a/k/a “Vanya,” DENIS SAVGIR, DIEGO GABISONIA,
LEVAN MAKASHVILI, SEMYON SARAIDAROV, a/k/a “Sammy,” and VACHE HOVHANNISYAN are
charged in Count One of the Shulaya Indictment with racketeering conspiracy.
The Enterprise’s criminal
activities included:
The operation of illicit
poker businesses in Brighton Beach;
The extortion of gamblers who
became indebted to the Shulaya Enterprise;
Attempts to extort local
business owners;
Efforts to defraud casinos in
Atlantic City and Philadelphia by using electronic devices and computer servers
to predict and exploit the behavior of electronic slot machines;
The theft of cargo shipments,
including a shipment containing approximately 10,000 pounds of chocolate
confections;
The use of a female member of
the Shulaya Enterprise to seduce men, incapacitate them with gas, and then rob
them;
Attempts to create an
after-hours nightclub that would host, among other things, the sale of
narcotics;
The transportation and sale
of numerous cases of untaxed cigarettes;
Plans to pay bribes to local
law enforcement; and
Creation and use of forged
identification documents, checks, and invoices.
SHULAYA, DZHANASHVILI,
UGLAVA, CHAGANAVA, TORADZE, VINOKUROV, SUYUNOV, BUZIASHVILI, LOMISHVILI,
AFANASYEV, KANADASHVILI are charged in Count Two of the Shulaya Indictment with
conspiring to sell and transport stolen goods in a scheme involving contraband
cigarettes, falsified bills of lading, and assorted stolen merchandise.
SHULAYA, DZHANASHVILI,
UGLAVA, CHAGANAVA, TORADZE, KANADASHVILI, and VINOKUROV are charged in Count
Three of the Shulaya Indictment in connection with a multi-year conspiracy to
transport and sell purportedly stolen contraband cigarettes.
SHULAYA, DZHANASHVILI,
SUYUNOV, AFANASYEV, SAVGIR, HOVHANNISYAN, DAVYDOV, KERESELIDZE, and
MITSELMAKHER are charged in Count Four of the Shulaya Indictment in connection
with a conspiracy to create and use false identification documents.
SHULAYA, UBILAVA, UGLAVA,
MELMAN, GABISONIA, and MAKASHVILI are also charged in Count Five with wire
fraud in connection with their plot to defraud casinos through the use of
electronic devices and software designed to predict the behavior of particular
models of electronic “slot” machines, thereby removing the element of chance
from play of those machines.
LOMISHVILI, MARAT-UULU, and
PETRUSHYN are charged in Count Six of the Shulaya Indictment with narcotics
conspiracy in connection with their efforts to sell cocaine and heroin.
LERNER is charged in Count
Seven of the Shulaya Indictment with obstruction of justice for lying to the
FBI about information LERNER provided the Shulaya Enterprise about the FBI’s
investigation.
MARAT-UULU and JIKIA are
charged in the Jikia Complaint with conspiring to commit a murder-for-hire, and
with firearms offenses.
GINDINOV is charged in the
Gindinov Indictment with conspiring to sell narcotics in Manhattan and
Brooklyn.
ALEX FISHMAN, STEVEN FISHMAN,
and MELNYK are charged in the Fishman Indictment with conspiring to transport
and sell contraband cigarettes in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Mr. Kim praised the
outstanding work of the FBI, including the Atlantic City, New York, Los
Angeles, Las Vegas, and Miami offices, the CBP, the NYPD, and the St. Pierce,
Florida, Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations for their
investigative efforts and ongoing support and assistance with the case.
The prosecution of this case
is being overseen by the Office’s Violent and Organized Crime Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew C. Adams and
Andrew Thomas are in charge of the case.
The charges contained in the
Indictments and Complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are
presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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