Human Trafficking—Exotic Dancers

A Lithuanian man living in the Chicago area has pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges related to the trafficking of Eastern European women.^[1] Michail Aronov and another man, Aleksander Maksimenko, were arrested in February after two Ukrainian women fled from his control and told federal agents that the men had enslaved the women, forcing them to work as topless dancers in Detroit.^[2] Mr. Aronov pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit forced labor, immigration violations, and money laundering.^[3] As part of his agreement, he admitted that he confiscated the women’s passports, threatened to report them for immigration violations, forced them into indebtedness, and threatened them with physical violence.^[4] US Attorney Stephen J. Murphy has announced that Mr. Aronov will be cooperating with the government in their case against Mr. Maksimenko, who is awaiting trial.^[5]

When the men were arrested in February, Immigrations & Customs Enforcement [hereinafter ICE] officials announced that the men traveled to the Ukraine, recruiting women to work as waitresses, but when they arrived in the US with their husbands, they were forced to work at “Cheetah’s” a Detroit strip club.^[6] The women were forced to work 12 hours a day, six days a week, to pay off $12,000 in travel expenses, and $10,000 for identification documents.^[7] Mssrs. Aronov and Maksimenko, took all money the women earned, barred them from contacting their husbands, drove them to and from work, and gave them no access to a telephone.^[8] They were also intimidated, battered, and threatened with death.^[9]

Human Trafficking
Human trafficking is a very serious transnational crime. In this case, Mr. Aronov likely pleaded guilty to 18 U.S.C. § 1590, which makes it a crime to recruit, harbor, transport, or obtain by any means, a person for labor or services.

The punishment for violating section 1590 is a fine, imprisonment for up to 20 years, or both.

Mr. Aronov, could also have pleaded guilty to confiscating the women’s passports in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1592, which carries a punishment of a fine, imprisonment for up to five years or both.

Immigration Violations
There are a host of immigration violations to which Mr. Aronov could have pleaded guilty. Most likely he pleaded guilty to 8 U.S.C. §§ 1324(a)(1) and (a)(2). Under these sections, it is illegal for a person to engage in a conspiracy^[10]

• to knowingly bring an alien into the United States at a place other than an official port of entry, regardless of whether the alien has received prior official authorization;^[11]
• to knowingly transport an illegal alien within the United States;^[12]
• to knowingly harbor and illegal alien in any place;^[13] or
• to encourage an alien to enter the United States, knowing that such entry is illegal.^[14]

The punishment for violating this statute is a fine, the potential for life in prison or both.^[15]

8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(2) makes it a crime for a person, knowing that an alien has not received prior official authorization to enter the United States, to bring that person into the US for the purpose of financial gain. The punishment for violating this section is a fine, imprisonment for up to 10 years, or both.^[16]

Money Laundering
Money laundering is punished under 18 U.S.C. § 1956. We have recently discussed this crime here.

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[1] Man Pleads Guilty to Trafficking in Exotic Dancers, Associated Press, Sept. 8, 2005, available here.
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] Id.
[5] Id.
[6] ICE, ICE Nabs Two Michigan Men for Human Trafficking Scam, Feb. 2005, available here.
[7] Id.
[8] Id.
[9] Id.
[10] 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(v)(I).
[11] Id. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(i).
[12] Id. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(ii).
[13] Id. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(iii).
[14] Id. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(iv).
[15] Id. § 1324(a)(1)(B).
[16] Id. § 1324(a)(2)(B).

Forging Passports--Thailand

Thailand has emerged as the passport forgery capital of the world.^[1] Passport forgery, which is a transnational crime taken very seriously in the United States, was previously viewed in Thailand as a petty crime.^[2] However, in the post-9/11 world, Western governments are pressuring Thailand to crack down on the makers of fake passports.^[3]

The most commonly faked passports are Belgian, French, Portuguese, and Spanish, which Thai police say are easily copied. In one particular arrest, Thai police seized 353 fake passports from a courier heading to London; in another, they found 452.^[4] It is estimated that roughly 90 percent of forged passports are sent to London.^[5]

The United States and the United Kingdom have passports that are harder to duplicate.^[6]

In the United States, passport fraud is criminalized by 18 U.S.C. §§ 1028 and 1546.

18 U.S.C. § 1028
Under section 1028, it is illegal for a person to

• knowingly produce a false identification document;^[7]
• knowingly possess, with intent to use or transfer unlawfully, five or more false identification documents;^[8] or
• knowingly possess a false identification document with the intent to defraud the United States.^[9]

Violating this section can be punished by a fine, imprisonment for up to 30 years, or both.^[10]

18 U.S.C. § 1546
Under section 1546, it is illegal for a person to knowingly forge any type of document used to enter the United States, or use such a document knowing that it is forged.^[11] Violating this section can be punished by a fine, imprisonment for up to 25 years, or both.^[12]

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[1] Alisa Tang, Thailand Emerges as Fake Passport Capital, Associated Press, Sept. 8, 2005, available here.
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] Id.
[5] Id.
[6] Id.
[7] 18 U.S.C. § 1028(a)(1).
[8] Id. § 1028(a)(3).
[9] Id. § 1028(a)(4).
[10] Id. § 1028(b).
[11] Id. § 1546(a).
[12] Id.

Human Smuggling

Yervand Asriyants, an Azerbaijani man, was sentenced to three years and ordered to forfeit his house for smuggling dozens of Eastern Europeans into the United States.^[1] Mr. Asriyants pleaded guilty on June 9, after being arrested in an investigation by the FBI and ICE.^[2] The immigrants agreed to pay $5,000 to $10,000 a person to be brought from Lithuania, Poland, Russia, and the Ukraine through the Tijuana border.^[3] The immigrants were caught when they attempted to claim US citizenship and presented borrowed or fake identification materials.^[4] 43 people were caught attempting to cross the border, but investigators believe that many other people successfully made it into the US.^[5]

It is illegal for a person to engage in a conspiracy,^[6] or aid and abet the commission of a plan,^[7]

• to knowingly bring an alien into the United States at a place other than an official port of entry, regardless of whether the alien has received prior official authorization;^[8]
• to knowingly transport an illegal alien within the United States;^[9]
• to knowingly harbor and illegal alien in any place;^[10] or
• to encourage an alien to enter the United States, knowing that such entry is illegal.^[11]

The punishment for violating this statute is a fine, the potential for life in prison or both.^[12]

8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(2)(B)(ii) makes it a crime for a person, knowing that an alien has not received prior official authorization to enter the United States, to bring that person into the US for the purpose of financial gain. The punishment for violating this section is a fine, imprisonment for up to 10 years, or both.^[13]

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[1] Onell R. Soto, Eastern Europeans Sneaked into U.S., San Diego Union-Tribune, Sept. 7, 2005, available here.
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] Id.
[5] Id.
[6] 8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(v)(I).
[7] Id. U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(v)(II).
[8] Id. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(i).
[9] Id. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(ii).
[10] Id. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(iii).
[11] Id. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(iv).
[12] Id. § 1324(a)(1)(B).
[13] Id. § 1324(a)(2)(B).

Smuggling Counterfeit Goods Update

The massive crackdown on the smuggling of counterfeit cigarettes and money, which we previously discussed here and here, has resulted in even more arrests and seizures.^[1] The operation, dubbed Operation Royal Charm, has resulted in the seizure of an additional $1.8 million in counterfeit cigarettes seized in southern New Jersey, and $2.7 million worth seized in Port Elizabeth, and $500,000 worth seized in northern New Jersey.^[2] Furthermore, an additional $2 million in counterfeit US currency, “commonly referred to as ‘super notes,’” were seized in Taiwan.^[3]

One of the most interesting aspects of this case is that some of the arrests were made when the alleged smugglers were lured to a yacht in Atlantic City where they expected to attend a wedding, but instead were arrested by federal agents.^[4] This isn’t the first time the US has used a yacht to lure suspects into the hands of federal authorities.

In the 1991 case, United States v. Yunis,^[5] the defendant, a Lebanese citizen, was wanted in the United States for his role in the 1985 hijacking of Royal Jordanian Airlines Flight 402. He was located in Lebanon, and, after obtaining an arrest warrant, the FBI instituted “Operation Goldenrod” in which Mr. Yunis was lured onto a yacht in the eastern Mediterranean Sea with promises of a drug deal.^[6] Once the yacht was in international waters, he was arrested and transferred to a US Navy munitions ship where he was interrogated, and then transferred to an aircraft carrier, which took him to Washington, D.C.^[7]

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[1] Millions More in Bogus Cigarettes, Cash Seized by Feds, Associated Press, Sept. 6, 2005, available here.
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] Id.
[5] 924 F.2d 1086 (1991). (Word document)
[6] Id. at 1089.
[7] Id.

Money Laundering Update Continued

Vladimir Kuznetsov, who we previously discussed here and here, pleaded not guilty to charges that he conspired to launder hundreds of thousands of dollars from foreign companies seeking lucrative UN contracts.^[1] Bail was set at $1.5 million, but Mr. Kuznetsov’s lawyer said that it was unlikely that bail could be arranged this week.^[2]

UN deputy spokeswoman Marie Okabe, referring to the fact that the indictment does not name the procurement officer with whom Mr. Kuznetsov is alleged to have worked, stated that the charges against Mr. Kuznetsov do stem from an internal investigation of Alexander Yakovlev, who pleaded guilty to money laundering nearly a month ago.^[3]

Ms. Okabe also clarified something that we mentioned in our last post about Mr. Kuznetsov. When the story first came out, it was stated that “Vadim Kouznetsov” had been arrested. It turns out that he is a different Russian who works in the Department of General Assembly Affairs, but he has no connection with this case.^[4]

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[1] Pat Milton, Russian Envoy Pleads Not Guilty to Charges, Wash. Post, Sept. 3, 2005, available here.
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] Id.

McNabb in the News

Senior Principal Douglas McNabb has been quoted in an article about the upcoming Enron trial, and the NatWest Three.

Douglas McNabb … said that if the US succeeds with the extradition request, they will be treated as serious criminals.

"They will be handcuffed, they will be in leg chains and they will have chains around their waists. They will be kept in the maximum security federal detention centre and, if convicted, could receive 22 years without parole," said McNabb.

It could end up being the worst punishment meted out to anyone in the Enron scandal.^[1]

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[1] Katherine Griffiths, Houston Has a Problem: the Countdown Starts at Enron, The Independent, Sep. 4, 2005.