2002-08-27 -- Trakhtenberg, Lev et al. -- Indictment -- News Release

Three Indicted for Bringing Russian Women Into U.S. and Forced to Perform as Nude Dancers

NEWARK - Three people were indicted today for allegedly inducing Russian women to enter the United States illegally and compelling and extorting them to dance nude in New Jersey strip clubs, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie and New Jersey Attorney General David Samson announced.

The defendants represented to the Immigration and Naturalization Service that the women, about 30 of them - 15 of whom are identified by initials in the Indictment - were coming to the U.S. to tour with an internationally recognized or culturally unique Russian show group, according to the Indictment. The defendants allegedly threatened the women and their families in Russia with serious injury or Russian-mob retaliation if they did not engage in the nude dancing or pay the defendants $200 a day from their earnings as nude dancers.

The women were typically forced to work at the nude dancing establishments six days a week, eight to 10 hours a day, with only one additional day off a month.

"These women were lured here and turned into chattel for these defendants to enrich themselves," Christie said. "This is appalling human exploitation which we, the state Attorney General and our investigative agencies will root out and prosecute to the fullest."

Said Peter C. Harvey, First Assistant Attorney General and Director of the Division of Criminal Justice: "The fearful plight of these women, who were forced to dance nude and perform other abhorrent acts - cannot be measured in a 12-count Indictment. Their plight can only be measured in human tragedy. It is our obligation to bring those who engage in such acts to American justice."

Charged in the Indictment are Lev Trakhtenberg, 38, and his wife, Viktoriya I'lina, 38, both naturalized U.S. citizens; and Sergey Malchikov, 41, a Russian national in the U.S. on an expired visa.

Each are charged in Count One with conspiracy; in Counts Two through Six with Forced Labor; in Counts Seven through 11 with Trafficking with Respect to Forced Labor, and in Count 12 with Conspiracy to Commit Extortion. There are also two forfeiture allegations, in which the government seeks to confiscate assets associated with or derived from the illegal activity.

The conspiracy charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Each of the other counts carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The defendants were held without bail following afternoon appearances before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ronald J. Hedges. A detention hearing was scheduled for Friday, 9:30 a.m. before Magistrate Hedges for Trakhtenberg and I'lina. Malchikov was ordered detained.

According to the Indictment, the Russian women were lured to the United States with the promise that they would make large sums of money dancing at strip clubs. They were also misled as to the lascivious nature of the dancing they wold be required to perform.

It was further part of the alleged conspiracy that:

• the defendants misled the women with regard to the amount of money they would be able to keep for themselves and for the benefit of their families;

• the defendants required the women to provide them with detailed "emergency" contact information about family in Russia and later used it to threaten the women and their families and prevent them from leaving the defendants' control.

• if the Russian women complained about the nature of the work or about the insufficiencies of the money they were able keep for themselves, the defendants reminded them that they had addresses of their families and children back in Russia; or, if the women failed to pay the thousands of dollars demanded, the defendants told the women that the money was owed to Russian organized crime associates, who would seek retribution against them and their families in Russia;

• the Russian women, upon arrival through John F. Kennedy Airport in New York, were taken to any of several sparsely furnished apartments in Brooklyn and subsequently had their passports, visas and return plane tickets confiscated in order to isolate and control them;

• the defendants required the women to pay them $1,200 a week, regardless of whether they earned sufficient money for dancing at the nude establishments and even if they were ill or too fatigued to work. In those cases, the amount due was expected to be paid the following week.

• numerous misrepresentations and falsehoods were made by certain of the defendants on visa applications and affidavits presented to the INS. Among them: that other of the Russian women were members of the Gurchenko Show Group or the Boyanova Show Group and possessed certain musical skills and talents. The defendants also helped obtain from the U.S. Department of State exchange visitor visas, which provided that the women would be "visiting specialists" at the Department of Performing Arts in Chicago;

An Indictment is a formal charge made by a grand jury, a body of 16 to 23 citizens. Grand jury proceedings are secret, and neither persons under investigation nor their attorneys have the right to be present. Despite Indictment, every defendant is presumed innocent, unless and until found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt following a trial at which the defendant has all of the trial rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and federal law.

Under U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, the U.S. District Judge to whom the case is assigned, would, upon a conviction, determine the actual sentence based on a formula that takes into account the severity and characteristics of the offense and a defendant's criminal history, if any. Parole has been abolished in the federal system. Under Sentencing Guidelines, defendants who are given custodial terms must serve nearly all that time.

Christie credited Special Agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Louie F. Allen; Investigators with the state Division of Criminal Justice, under Samson's direction; and Special Agents of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, under the direction of District Director Andrea Quarantillo, with investigating and bringing the case against the defendants.

Christie also thanked members of the New York Police Department/FBI Russian Organized Crime Task Force with their help in today's arrest of the defendants.