Bribery and visa fraud: in the United States, a Russian was sentenced to 5 years in prison

Former deputy director of Voentorg Leonid Teif was sentenced to five years in prison and three years of public supervision. His arrested on December 5, 2018 in North Carolina. The edition told in more detail with the BBC.

Photo: Shutterstock

The accused will be credited with the time he spent in the pre-trial detention center, besides, for exemplary behavior, his term will be reduced by about 15%. His lawyer, Robert Wolfe, believes that, taking into account all the factors, the accused has no more than 18 months left to serve in prison.

Together with the verdict, the 59-year-old native of Belarus and a citizen of Russia and Israel signed a five-page document in which he expressed his consent to be later deported from the United States, not to challenge the deportation in court and to provide assistance to the departments that deported him.

He agreed to be deported to Belarus, if it was refused, to Israel, and if he was refused there, then to Russia.

Federal prosecutors dropped 47 out of 50 counts against Teif in exchange for a plea. This helped him get only 5 years instead of 20.

On the subject: Hundreds of Russian robots will appear in American colleges: why are they needed

Such a turn in the case was very unexpected and a number of media outlets in March when Teif pleaded guilty, did not quite correctly set out the grateful deal that Teif and his ex-wife Tatyana Anatolyevna, who had now been sentenced to the already served time, concluded with the prosecutor's office.

According to Wolfe, this outcome of the case represents a “huge victory” for his client, who was initially charged with, among other things, attempting to order the murder of the alleged lover of his wife, whom Teyf divorced in 2017, and laundering in the United States part of the alleged kickbacks received in Russia in the amount of $150 million and concealment of foreign assets.

As a result, Teif pleaded guilty to bribing $ 10 to an employee of the US Department of Homeland Security. With his help, he wanted to deport his wife's lover, conduct a visa fraud and file a false tax return.

Tatiana confessed to lying in her immigration document.

“Teyf achieved the dropping of all 37 counts of money laundering, the dropping of the count of attempting to order a murder and the dropping of almost all the other counts brought against him, that is, the main part of the case brought against him by the prosecutor’s office,” the lawyer said. Among other things, he said that he was now trying to settle a bribery case against Teif in Utah.

You may be interested in: top New York news, stories of our immigrants and helpful tips about life in the Big Apple - read it all on ForumDaily New York

The lawyer assures that the overwhelming majority of the assets seized from him will be returned to the convict.

Making a deal with the prosecutor's office, Teif agreed to pay $ 5,9 million, and his remaining funds were frozen.

As a result, the prosecutor's office abandoned the intention to confiscate the numerous properties that Teif had in the United States.

After all, while the accused was in pre-trial detention, his property was subject to taxes, non-payment of which threatened to confiscate property. When Teif's debt exceeded $ 152, his defense petitioned the judge to allow him to pay it off using his assets arrested by the prosecutor's office. The judge agreed and at the same time postponed the date of sentencing from August to early July.

Voentorg OJSC was established in 2009 on the basis of a presidential decree and an order of the Russian Defense Minister. Then this post was occupied by Anatoly Serdyukov. It provides catering and bath and laundry services in the interests of the Ministry of Defense.

Read also on ForumDaily:

The strongest passports in the world: which places were occupied by the post-Soviet countries

The United States has banned the sale of tickets to Belarus: how Americans can get to this country

Hundreds of Russian robots will appear in American colleges: why are they needed

Six American Holidays That Wouldn't Exist Without Immigrants

Do you want more important and interesting news about life in the USA and immigration to America? — support us donate! Also subscribe to our page Facebook. Select the “Priority in display” option and read us first. Also, don't forget to subscribe to our РєР ° РЅР ° Р »РІ Telegram  and Instagram- there is a lot of interesting things there. And join thousands of readers ForumDaily New York — there you will find a lot of interesting and positive information about life in the metropolis.