Russian nationals indicted for financial crimes and immigration fraud appear in court
A federal magistrate on Monday told a Russian national living in Illinois that he could spend decades in prison if he is convicted of money laundering.
Federal prosecutors say Alexsy Timofeev of Illinois was working in concert with a wealthy Russian in North Raleigh who has been accused of a murder-for-hire scheme and linked to a Russian oligarch charged with tampering in the 2016 election.
Timofeev, 37, and his wife, Olesya Yuryevena Timofeev, 41, of Darien, Ill., appeared in a fifth-floor courtroom in downtown Raleigh on Monday afternoon on charges of “conspiring, and aiding and abetting one another to encourage an alien to come to, enter, or reside in the United States, knowing and in reckless disregard of the fact that such coming to, entry or residence is or will be in violation of the law.”
U.S. Magistrate Robert Numbers II told the Timofeevs they could each spend 10 years in prison and pay a $250,000 fine if they are convicted of the offense.
Numbers also told Alexsy Timofeev that he could spend 10 years in prison for each one of the six counts of felony money laundering that he has been charged with.
The Timofeevs came to the public’s attention last month when FBI agents raided the home of Leonid and Tatyana Teyf at 6150 New Market Way. Federal prosecutors took the Teyfs into custody on Dec. 5 after they were indicted on charges of bribery, a kickback scheme that bilked the Russian government out of tens of millions of dollars and money laundering.
Federal investigation of the financial crimes led to the arrest of seven people, including one other Russian national and two Triangle residents, and the discovery of a murder-for-hire plot.
U.S. investigators say Teyf, 57, stole $150 million over a two-year period from the Russian government through a kickback scheme and tried to have his ex-wife’s alleged lover deported and killed, according to indictments filed in Raleigh’s U.S. District Court.
The News & Observer on Jan. 3 reported that Russian news sources linked Leonid Teyf to Yevgeny Prigozhin, a Russian oligarch known as “Putin’s chef,” who has been indicted on charges of interfering with the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Novaya Gazeta, a Moscow-based news organization known for its critical coverage of Russian politics, has reported a business connection between Leonid Teyf and Prigozhin, one of 13 Russians indicted last February as part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.
Mueller, in a 37-page indictment, accused Prigozhin and companies he controlled, including the Internet Research Agency, of funding and orchestrating a campaign to influence the presidential election through social media and other tactics.
The Timofeevs traveled through a Chicago snowstorm for Monday’s federal hearing. They relied on an interpreter and were told they both have a right to court-appointed attorneys if they can no longer afford private counsel. Numbers also told the Timofeevs that they have the right to be represented by Russian attorneys.
An additional hearing was scheduled for Wednesday, when Numbers will determine if the Timofeevs both being represented by Raleigh attorney Elliot Abrams could pose a conflict of interest.
This story was originally published January 14, 2019 at 6:05 PM.
