To begin with, on January 30, a 42-year-old Belarusian with a Cypriot passport, Aliaksandr Klimenka, was charged in the federal Court for the Northern District of New York, as well as a group of his unspecified accomplices, including an unspecified 43-year-old Russian, Alexander Vinnik, who are accused of money laundering and illegal financial transactions with cryptocurrency.
Klimenka was arrested on December 21 last year in Riga, and without legal fuss was extradited to San Francisco, where on January 31, Federal Magistrate Judge Alex Xie (Tse) introduced him to the charge, which threatens to be imprisoned for up to 25 years. Vinnik was arrested on July 5, 2017 in Greece, where he and his family flew to rest, and from there was taken to France, where he was accused of identity theft and extortion. In December 2020, he was sentenced in Paris to 5 years in prison, in August 2022 he was released early and returned to Greece, but our federal marshals intercepted him at the Paris airport, and through Athens he was taken first to Boston, and from there to San Francisco to see Magistrate Sally Kim. Klimenka was also charged in absentia in 2022, and now both are in custody, but they are not listed in the federal prison database, although the Justice Department said that Klimenka "is currently being held in federal custody in California, where she will remain during court hearings."
According to the 6-page indictment filed on July 12, 2022, Klimenka, Vinnik and others "allegedly controlled the operation of the BTC-e cryptocurrency exchange," which the prosecutor's office called "an international money laundering system that, posing as a business model, engaged in crimes, or rather cybercrimes," laundering approximately $ 4 billion. Let me explain that BTC is the accepted designation for bitcoin. In addition, Klimenka controlled the software technology service company Soft-FX and the financial company FX Open. As of August 2013, almost half of all transactions in cyber currency were made through the BTC-e platform. About 300 thousand bitcoins, which was $800 million five years ago, were withdrawn via BTC-e to personal accounts controlled by Vinnik in banks in Latvia and Cyprus. The stolen funds were also transferred to linked accounts registered in the three names mentioned above, and the total amount of funds stolen from the exchange's clients allegedly exceeds $ 1 billion.
Klimenka's indictment alleges that BTC-e was "a serious subject of cybercrime and money laundering on the Internet, which allowed its users to trade bitcoins with a high level of anonymity and developed a customer base largely associated with criminal activity. Allegedly, BTC-e conducted transactions for cybercriminals around the world and received illegal income from numerous computer intrusions, scams using ransomware and identity theft, as well as with the help of corrupt officials and drug trafficking groups. The BTC-e servers operating in the United States were allegedly one of the main ways in which BTC-e and its operators carried out their scams. These servers were allegedly rented and maintained by Klimenko and his company Soft-FX"
It's hard to read, but it's convincing, for which Alyaksandr Klimenka can get up to 25 years in prison. Just in case, I will add that the 21 counts of money laundering and illegal financial transactions with cryptocurrencies brought against his namesake Vinnik face imprisonment for up to 55 years and a fine of up to $ 12 million, and all for the fact that, while doing serious business in the United States, BTC-e was not registered The Ministry of Finance, as a money service company, did not have a proper anti-money laundering program and Know-Your-Customer KYC system, as required by federal law. On the trail of Alexander Vinnik, our Secret Service and the FBI came out after exposing in July 2017 the network groups of drug dealers AlphaBay and Hansa Market, who worked with cryptocurrency. The founder of AlphaBay, 25-year-old Canadian Alexander Kazes, was arrested in Bangkok on July 5, 2017 at the request of our Ministry of Justice. A week later, the day before the first extradition summons, Kazes was found hanging from a towel in his prison cell, and the Thai police said it was an unmistakable suicide.
This "unique" case is being heard in the federal court of the Northern Circle of California in San Francisco, and here in Brooklyn Federal Court for the Eastern District of New York on January 30, 53-year-old Stella Boyajian from my Rego Park neighborhood in Queens, a lady who was once well known, was sentenced to 25 months in prison. Arrested in February 2018, in March 2019 she pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States, visa fraud and identity theft, for which she faced up to 10 years in prison, and Magistrate Judge Sanket Balsara even threatened Stella that her status as a naturalized US citizen could be reviewed. None of this happened, and last week Judge Margot Brody treated Stella Boyajian quite like a God. Why she delayed the sentence for almost three years, I do not know, but Stella spent this term at large on bail of 150 thousand dollars.
Boyajyan was arrested along with 31-year-old Hrachya Atoyan is from Glendale, California, and the charges, in addition to them, were brought in absentia to 42-year-old Armenian citizen Diana Grigoryan, aka "Dina Hakobovna". Boyajian was born in Armenia and obtained US citizenship, while Armenian citizen Atoyan arrived in the US on December 30, 2013 on a P-3 visa, which expired on December 31, 2014, and has been in the country illegally ever since. Grigoryan is also an Armenian citizen and arrived in the United States on December 20, 2013, also on a "P-3" visa, which expired on December 31, 2014, and she flew home, where on February 9, 2018, the Armenian News agency reported that " famous Armenian TV presenter Diana Grigoryan is accused of participating in fraudulent schemes to obtain foreign citizenship." US visas. After pleading guilty, Stella Boyajian confirmed that in 2013 and 2014, she helped Armenian citizens enter the United States on P-3 visas, which are issued to artists participating in"unique cultural programs." These non-immigrant visas give a foreigner the right to temporarily stay in the United States, perform and teach in their "unique" profession. To call such a "unique" alien, the American employer or sponsor must submit to the Federal Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) a petition on form "I-129" (work visas), as well as documents confirming that the performances of this foreigner in the United States are truly "unique". After such a petition is approved, the applicant applies to the consular service of the US Embassy in their country for a visa - and welcome to the United States!
On Sanders Street in the Rigaud Park neighborhood, at her place of residence and across Queens Boulevard from mine, Stella Boyajian owned the Big Apple Music Awards Foundation (WAMA), which reported that it was engaged in "supporting and developing talents of the ethnic culture of the Caucasus and Central Asia." For such a visa, Boyajyan charged up to 10 thousand dollars from applicants who had nothing to do with this culture. The charge without details indicated the amounts " from 3 to 15 thousand dollars. In order to obtain visas, the accomplices of this scam were united in alleged dance groups, photographed in national Armenian costumes, issued fake certificates and taught how to behave during interviews with immigration officers. Commenting on a report by the Brooklyn Federal Prosecutor's Office on March 4, 2019, the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan explained that P-3 visas "are often requested by legitimate Armenian artists, musicians, dancers, and other performers to travel to the United States to show the American people important aspects of Armenia's rich cultural heritage," but "unfortunately, such visas are not available in the United States." cases like this one expose the possibility of legitimate U.S.-Armenian cultural exchange to further scrutiny."
On September 29, 2013, Grigoryan arranged for the recipients of "I-129" visas to receive photos of them in national Armenian costumes through BAMA. These and other necessary documents were forged and submitted to the consular section of the US Embassy in Yerevan. On July 29, 2014, Stella Boyajian filed petitions on the I-129 form and accompanying documents for the extension of several P-3 visas, claiming that the Haiko Folks Group, an Armenian dance group based in the United States, had contracts for several more performances. On August 4 of the same year, Boyajian sent Diana Grigoryan an email with a power of attorney for her right to represent the Big Apple Music Awards Foundation in California. On August 21, 2014, Stella Boyajian opened a virtual office called "St. George Orthodox Church" on the Internet. Four days later, Boyajian filed an I-129 petition and accompanying documents on behalf of the church to the applicant, who will be performing charity concerts in Chicago as part of the Kohar Group vocal and Dance group. The role of Hrachya Atoyan in all this is not specified.
"Fraudsters who undermine our immigration system threaten our society and our national security," Interim Deputy Justice Secretary John Cronan said after their arrest. "The Department of Justice will not tolerate abuses of our country's immigration laws, such as those mentioned in the indictment released today. We will root out immigration fraud and bring the accused to justice." So far, this is not very successful, but everything is coming to that.
Klimenka was arrested on December 21 last year in Riga, and without legal fuss was extradited to San Francisco, where on January 31, Federal Magistrate Judge Alex Xie (Tse) introduced him to the charge, which threatens to be imprisoned for up to 25 years. Vinnik was arrested on July 5, 2017 in Greece, where he and his family flew to rest, and from there was taken to France, where he was accused of identity theft and extortion. In December 2020, he was sentenced in Paris to 5 years in prison, in August 2022 he was released early and returned to Greece, but our federal marshals intercepted him at the Paris airport, and through Athens he was taken first to Boston, and from there to San Francisco to see Magistrate Sally Kim. Klimenka was also charged in absentia in 2022, and now both are in custody, but they are not listed in the federal prison database, although the Justice Department said that Klimenka "is currently being held in federal custody in California, where she will remain during court hearings."
According to the 6-page indictment filed on July 12, 2022, Klimenka, Vinnik and others "allegedly controlled the operation of the BTC-e cryptocurrency exchange," which the prosecutor's office called "an international money laundering system that, posing as a business model, engaged in crimes, or rather cybercrimes," laundering approximately $ 4 billion. Let me explain that BTC is the accepted designation for bitcoin. In addition, Klimenka controlled the software technology service company Soft-FX and the financial company FX Open. As of August 2013, almost half of all transactions in cyber currency were made through the BTC-e platform. About 300 thousand bitcoins, which was $800 million five years ago, were withdrawn via BTC-e to personal accounts controlled by Vinnik in banks in Latvia and Cyprus. The stolen funds were also transferred to linked accounts registered in the three names mentioned above, and the total amount of funds stolen from the exchange's clients allegedly exceeds $ 1 billion.
Klimenka's indictment alleges that BTC-e was "a serious subject of cybercrime and money laundering on the Internet, which allowed its users to trade bitcoins with a high level of anonymity and developed a customer base largely associated with criminal activity. Allegedly, BTC-e conducted transactions for cybercriminals around the world and received illegal income from numerous computer intrusions, scams using ransomware and identity theft, as well as with the help of corrupt officials and drug trafficking groups. The BTC-e servers operating in the United States were allegedly one of the main ways in which BTC-e and its operators carried out their scams. These servers were allegedly rented and maintained by Klimenko and his company Soft-FX"
It's hard to read, but it's convincing, for which Alyaksandr Klimenka can get up to 25 years in prison. Just in case, I will add that the 21 counts of money laundering and illegal financial transactions with cryptocurrencies brought against his namesake Vinnik face imprisonment for up to 55 years and a fine of up to $ 12 million, and all for the fact that, while doing serious business in the United States, BTC-e was not registered The Ministry of Finance, as a money service company, did not have a proper anti-money laundering program and Know-Your-Customer KYC system, as required by federal law. On the trail of Alexander Vinnik, our Secret Service and the FBI came out after exposing in July 2017 the network groups of drug dealers AlphaBay and Hansa Market, who worked with cryptocurrency. The founder of AlphaBay, 25-year-old Canadian Alexander Kazes, was arrested in Bangkok on July 5, 2017 at the request of our Ministry of Justice. A week later, the day before the first extradition summons, Kazes was found hanging from a towel in his prison cell, and the Thai police said it was an unmistakable suicide.
This "unique" case is being heard in the federal court of the Northern Circle of California in San Francisco, and here in Brooklyn Federal Court for the Eastern District of New York on January 30, 53-year-old Stella Boyajian from my Rego Park neighborhood in Queens, a lady who was once well known, was sentenced to 25 months in prison. Arrested in February 2018, in March 2019 she pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States, visa fraud and identity theft, for which she faced up to 10 years in prison, and Magistrate Judge Sanket Balsara even threatened Stella that her status as a naturalized US citizen could be reviewed. None of this happened, and last week Judge Margot Brody treated Stella Boyajian quite like a God. Why she delayed the sentence for almost three years, I do not know, but Stella spent this term at large on bail of 150 thousand dollars.
Boyajyan was arrested along with 31-year-old Hrachya Atoyan is from Glendale, California, and the charges, in addition to them, were brought in absentia to 42-year-old Armenian citizen Diana Grigoryan, aka "Dina Hakobovna". Boyajian was born in Armenia and obtained US citizenship, while Armenian citizen Atoyan arrived in the US on December 30, 2013 on a P-3 visa, which expired on December 31, 2014, and has been in the country illegally ever since. Grigoryan is also an Armenian citizen and arrived in the United States on December 20, 2013, also on a "P-3" visa, which expired on December 31, 2014, and she flew home, where on February 9, 2018, the Armenian News agency reported that " famous Armenian TV presenter Diana Grigoryan is accused of participating in fraudulent schemes to obtain foreign citizenship." US visas. After pleading guilty, Stella Boyajian confirmed that in 2013 and 2014, she helped Armenian citizens enter the United States on P-3 visas, which are issued to artists participating in"unique cultural programs." These non-immigrant visas give a foreigner the right to temporarily stay in the United States, perform and teach in their "unique" profession. To call such a "unique" alien, the American employer or sponsor must submit to the Federal Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) a petition on form "I-129" (work visas), as well as documents confirming that the performances of this foreigner in the United States are truly "unique". After such a petition is approved, the applicant applies to the consular service of the US Embassy in their country for a visa - and welcome to the United States!
On Sanders Street in the Rigaud Park neighborhood, at her place of residence and across Queens Boulevard from mine, Stella Boyajian owned the Big Apple Music Awards Foundation (WAMA), which reported that it was engaged in "supporting and developing talents of the ethnic culture of the Caucasus and Central Asia." For such a visa, Boyajyan charged up to 10 thousand dollars from applicants who had nothing to do with this culture. The charge without details indicated the amounts " from 3 to 15 thousand dollars. In order to obtain visas, the accomplices of this scam were united in alleged dance groups, photographed in national Armenian costumes, issued fake certificates and taught how to behave during interviews with immigration officers. Commenting on a report by the Brooklyn Federal Prosecutor's Office on March 4, 2019, the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan explained that P-3 visas "are often requested by legitimate Armenian artists, musicians, dancers, and other performers to travel to the United States to show the American people important aspects of Armenia's rich cultural heritage," but "unfortunately, such visas are not available in the United States." cases like this one expose the possibility of legitimate U.S.-Armenian cultural exchange to further scrutiny."
On September 29, 2013, Grigoryan arranged for the recipients of "I-129" visas to receive photos of them in national Armenian costumes through BAMA. These and other necessary documents were forged and submitted to the consular section of the US Embassy in Yerevan. On July 29, 2014, Stella Boyajian filed petitions on the I-129 form and accompanying documents for the extension of several P-3 visas, claiming that the Haiko Folks Group, an Armenian dance group based in the United States, had contracts for several more performances. On August 4 of the same year, Boyajian sent Diana Grigoryan an email with a power of attorney for her right to represent the Big Apple Music Awards Foundation in California. On August 21, 2014, Stella Boyajian opened a virtual office called "St. George Orthodox Church" on the Internet. Four days later, Boyajian filed an I-129 petition and accompanying documents on behalf of the church to the applicant, who will be performing charity concerts in Chicago as part of the Kohar Group vocal and Dance group. The role of Hrachya Atoyan in all this is not specified.
"Fraudsters who undermine our immigration system threaten our society and our national security," Interim Deputy Justice Secretary John Cronan said after their arrest. "The Department of Justice will not tolerate abuses of our country's immigration laws, such as those mentioned in the indictment released today. We will root out immigration fraud and bring the accused to justice." So far, this is not very successful, but everything is coming to that.
