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Press Release

Dual Israeli/Russian Citizen Extradited to United States To Face Money Laudering Charges

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Columbia
Defendant Accused of Taking Part in International Scheme

            WASHINGTON - Stanislav Nazarov, 46, a dual citizen of Israel and Russia, has been extradited from Israel to face charges in an indictment accusing him of taking part in an international money laundering scheme.

 

            The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu, Andrew Vale, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, John L. Phillips, Assistant Inspector General for Investigations for the U.S. Department of Treasury, and Special Agent in Charge Patrick J. Lechleitner of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI) Washington, D.C.

 

            Nazarov was among 19 people charged earlier this year in federal indictments outlining various international fraud and money laundering conspiracies. He was arrested in March 2017 in Israel following an undercover investigation and later waived extradition to the United States. Nazarov was brought to the United States on Oct. 19, 2017, and is to make his first appearance this afternoon in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

 

            The indictment charges Nazarov with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and two counts of money laundering. It includes a forfeiture allegation seeking a money judgment representing the proceeds of the alleged scheme.

 

            According to the indictment, Nazarov conspired with others in June 2016 to defraud a large reinsurance company in India.  That company fell victim to a cyber-phishing scheme whereby Nazarov’s co-conspirators allegedly tricked a director of that company into wiring $1.4 million to a bank account in the United States.  In December 2016, the indictment alleges, Nazarov obtained what he believed to be a portion of that $1.4 million by receiving $50,000 at his location in Israel.  According to the indictment, Nazarov received that money by orchestrating a sophisticated money laundering scheme whereby the $50,000 was first transferred to Russia, and then to Nazarov in Israel.

 

            An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed a violation of criminal laws and every defendant is presumed innocent until, and unless, proven guilty.

 

            This case is being investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office, the U.S. Department of Treasury, Office of the Inspector General, and ICE-HSI Washington, D.C. Assistance has been provided by the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs and the Israeli National Police. The FBI Legal Attache in Tel Aviv, Israel, also provided assistance. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane Lucas of the Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael J. Marando and David Kent of the Fraud and Public Corruption Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, with assistance from Paralegal Specialists Brittany Phillips, Christopher Toms, and C. Rosalind Pressley.

Updated October 20, 2017

Topic
Financial Fraud
Press Release Number: 17-226