Russian national charged with money laundering and murder-for-hire plot to appear in court

A wealthy Russian who has been living in the Triangle for nearly a decade will appear in federal court Tuesday on charges of money laundering, kickbacks that defrauded the Russian military out of tens of millions of dollars and plotting a murder-for-hire scheme to kill his wife’s alleged lover.

Leonid Teyf, 57, has been in custody at the Wake County jail since Dec. 5, when FBI agents raided his North Raleigh home, valued at nearly $5 million, on New Market Way.

His attorney plans to argue for Teyf’s release from jail.

Teyf has been charged with a shopping list of federal crimes, including money laundering, murder for hire, bribery of a public official, aiding and abetting others by possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number, bringing in and harboring undocumented residents, immigration conspiracy and visa fraud.

Charlotte attorney James B. McLoughlin Jr. on Friday filed a 19-page brief arguing that Teyf is not guilty of the charges, including the murder-for-hire plot that accuses his client of domestic violence issues with his wife, Tatyana Teyf, 41.

Earlier this month, prosecutors charged an Apex man, John Patrick Cotter, with attempted bribery after they say he gave a Department of Homeland Security agent $10,000 in exchange for a promise that a man suspected of having an affair with Tatyana Teyf would be deported to Russia, according to court records.

Leonid Teyf believed that his wife had an affair with the man, who is the son of the the family’s former housekeeper, court documents show.

According to court records from Cotter’s arrest, Teyf told a “confidential” source starting in February that he wanted to pay someone to get his former housekeeper’s son to admit to an alleged affair with Tatyana Teyf and then kill him, according to the FBI. The plan eventually evolved into one that involved getting the son sent back to Russia, where he would likely be killed.

In March, the FBI found the son, identified only by initials in court documents, in Cleveland, Ohio. Agents “offered protection and sought his cooperation,” but the man declined, records show.

McLoughlin said the murder-for-hire charge against Teyf “is devoid of any suggestion that Mr. Teyf personally participated in any violent or threatening behavior.”

Money laundering charges

Investigators say the Teyfs conspired to launder money with Alexey Timofeev, a Russian citizen who lives in Illinois. Federal prosecutors have charged three other people in connection with the case.

The Teyfs have also been charged along with Timofeev’s wife, Olesya Yuryneva Timofeeva, 41, with “conspiring, and aiding and abetting one another” to encourage people to enter the United State illegally, according to a news release.

A fifth person, Alexi Polyakov, 40, who lives in Raleigh, has been charged with attempting to obtain naturalization through false statements. Polyakov and Tatyana Teyf are also scheduled to appear in court Tuesday morning.

McLoughlin argued that Teyf, a native of the Soviet Union who is now a legal U.S. resident, is not guilty of the charges. He said the indictments contained inconsistencies, no supporting evidence and questionable legal theories.

“There is no allegation of deception of the Russian government, that the Russian government paid more for the goods than it would have otherwise, or that the conduct violated an identified law,” McLoughlin stated. He added, “there is no allegation of any fact that supports the conclusion that a single dollar of the monies Mr. Teyf transferred to or caused to be transferred to the United States is derived from that alleged conduct.”

The Charlotte attorney also argued that Teyf, the father of three children with extensive business and real estate interests in Raleigh, did not pose a flight risk.

“Despite having every opportunity to flee the country, Mr. Teyf did not do so, a reflection of his intention to remain accountable and present,” McLoughlin stated in the brief. “Rather than liquidate his U.S. holdings in anticipation of fleeing the country, in July 2018, he doubled his existing ownership interests in certain Utah-based trucking businesses.”

McLoughlin criticized what he characterized as federal prosecutors’ failure to review Teyf’s background to determine whether he is a flight risk. Nor were there discussions, McLoughlin said, to determine whether other means, including electronic house arrest and periodic reporting, could be used to assure Teyf’s appearance in court.

“Mr. Teyf’s well-established community and business ties, his demonstrated lack of intent to flee, his substantial assets in the United States, and the fact that his three children (two of whom are U.S. citizens) reside in America all demonstrate the Government cannot meet its burden,” McLoughlin argued.

McLoughlin also pointed out that Teyf is not in the best of health.

“He is older and has health issues that require treatment that both limit his ability to flee and make incarceration a material health risk,” the lawyer said.

Questions about relationship

Meanwhile, other public documents raise questions about the Teyf’s relationship. Wake County District Court records indicate that the couple married in Russia in 2005, but separated in the U.S. in 2015.

“Various unfortunate and unhappy difficulties, disputes, and differences have arisen between the parties,” the 2015 separation agreement states.

The couple’s divorce was granted in 2017.

Teyf was born in Belarus, which was part of the Slavic Republic within the former Soviet Union, according to court documents.

Prior to coming to the U.S., he had been a resident of Russia and served as president of the Fishing Group Delta Plus for about five years.

The multinational company is one of the largest fisheries and fish processing plants in the Volga region and has more than 1,500 employees, 80 fishing vessels and annual revenue of more than $14 million, according to court documents.

Between 2010 and 2012, Teyf was deputy director of Voentorg, a company that was granted by then Russian Minister of Defense Anatoly Serdyukov a contract to provide the Russian military with goods and services, such as laundry, food and equipment, according to court documents.

Teyf and others developed a kickback scheme with subcontractors that raised more than $150 million over the two-year period, prosecutors allege in court documents.

Russian President Vladimir Putin fired Serdyukov as defense minister in 2012 during an investigation into misallocated funds and fraudulent contracting, The New York Times reported.

Serdyukov was charged with a minor offense of exceeding his authority, but was pardoned, the Times reported. Serdyukov testified against a former contractor, who was found guilty of embezzlement and money laundering in a case with damages of more than $100 million, the Times reported.

Since December 2010, Teyf, his wife and others have opened at least 70 financial accounts at about four U.S. banks.

Foreign corporations and bank accounts in nations commonly known to be used for money laundering are the source of 293 wires that total more than $39.4 million, federal court documents state.

In the U.S., Teyf and his wife have had ownership interest in at least six trucking companies registered in Illinois and Utah, according to court documents. The documents indicate that since arriving in the U.S., Teyf has been president of Delta Plus, LLC, a provider of urgent care services in the Raleigh area.