U.S. vs. Babichenko, et. al.

On August 14, 2018, a federal grand jury returned a thirty-four count indictment charging Pavel Babichenko, Gennady Babitchenko, Piotr Babichenko, Timofey Babichenko, Kristina Babichenko, Natalya Babichenko, David Bibikov, Anna Iyerusalimets, Mikhail Iyerusalimets, and Artur Pupko, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, mail fraud, conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit trademarked goods, and money laundering conspiracy in connection with their online sale of counterfeit cellphones and accessories.

According to the indictment, the defendants operated a multi-million dollar scheme wherein they sold counterfeit cellphones and cellphone accessories on Amazon.com and eBay.com that the defendants misrepresented as new and genuine Apple and Samsung products.  The indictment further alleges that these counterfeit cellphones and cellphone accessories were obtained in bulk from manufacturers in Hong Kong, repackaged in Idaho, and then individually resold to consumers online as genuine and new.  The conspirators also allegedly laundered millions of dollars in proceeds from the fraudulent scheme. 

If convicted, the defendants face up to 20 years’ imprisonment and a $250,000 fine on the money laundering, wire fraud, and mail fraud counts.  They face up to 10 years’ imprisonment and a $5,000,000 fine on the counterfeit trademark goods trafficking counts. 

This case is the result of a coordinated investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Homeland Security, Internal Revenue Service, and United States Postal Inspection Service.