WASHINGTON – Stanislav Nazarov, 46, a dual citizen of Israel and Russia, pled guilty today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to a federal charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering stemming from his role in an international scheme.

The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu, Andrew W. Vale, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, and John L. Phillips, Assistant Inspector General for Investigations for the U.S. Department of Treasury.

Nazarov was among 19 people charged earlier this year in federal indictments outlining various international fraud and money laundering conspiracies. He was indicted in January 2017 and arrested in March 2017 in Israel. Nazarov later waived extradition to the United States and made his first appearance on Oct. 20, 2017, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. He has remained in custody since his initial arrest.

The money laundering conspiracy charge carries a statutory maximum of 20 years in prison and potential financial penalties. Under the plea agreement, Nazarov has agreed to pay a forfeiture money judgment of $50,000.

The Honorable Colleen Kollar-Kotelly scheduled sentencing for March 2, 2018.

According to a statement of offense submitted at today’s plea hearing, in or around 2013, Nazarov agreed to become partners with an unnamed money launderer who worked with individuals and groups engaged in fraudulent schemes in Israel and elsewhere. In return for his assistance, Nazarov was to receive a share of proceeds that his partner made from various fraudulent schemes. In one such scheme, a cyber-phishing scam was carried out in 2015 that tricked a director of a company into wiring $1.4 million to a bank account in the United States.

In December 2016, 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 statement of offense, 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.

This case is being investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office and the U.S. Department of Treasury, Office of the Inspector General. Assistance has been provided by the U.S. Marshals Service, the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI) Washington, D.C., and the Israeli National Police. The FBI Legal Attaché 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.

Topic(s):