August 17, 10

NEWS / Uzbek Man Pleads Guilty to Racketeering Charges

WASHINGTON – Ilkham Fazilov pleaded guilty today to racketeering conspiracy for his role in a criminal enterprise that engaged in numerous criminal activities including forced labor, fraud in foreign labor contracting, visa fraud, mail fraud, identity theft, tax evasion and money laundering, the Justice Department announced today.

According to court documents, Fazilov performed payroll functions and executed fraudulent petitions for foreign workers. Fazilov also opened bank accounts for the unlawful transfer of proceeds to facilitate criminal enterprise activities.

"The defendant was part of an organization that for pure greed exploited the hopes and dreams of numerous foreign workers to work legally in this country through foreign worker programs," said Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Thomas E. Perez. "The Department of Justice will continue to vigorously prosecute these cases."

Multiple co-defendants have previously pleaded guilty in connection with the case. Co-defendant Alexandru Frumusache, 24, a citizen of the Republic of Moldova residing in Kansas City, Kan., pleaded guilty on Oct. 7, 2009, to forced labor trafficking, in connection with his role in aiding and abetting others in a scheme to hold foreign workers from the Phillipines, Dominican Republic and Jamaica, in overcrowded, substandard living conditions, and to compel the workers into continued service by causing the workers to believe that they would be deported, or that their work visas would be cancelled, or that they or their families would be penalized, if the workers failed or refused to work where and when they were ordered to work. Trial for the remaining defendants is set for Oct. 18, 2010.

The case was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, the Department of Labor, the Internal Revenue Service, the Kansas Department of Revenue and the Independence Police Department. U.S. Attorney Criminal Chief Gene Porter, Assistant U.S. Attorney William Meiners and Civil Rights Division Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit Trial Attorney Jim Felte prosecuted this case for the government.

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2010/August/10-crt-928.html

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