Uzbek living in Brooklyn accused of fraud with US visas
'15.09.2022'
Lyudmila Balabay
Brooklyn-based Uzbek native Olimjon Turdialiev pleaded guilty to US visa fraud in New York. ForumDaily New York has an indictment from the prosecutor's office against him.
Turdialiev, 39, from Bay Parkway, pleaded guilty to nine counts in Queens Supreme Court on September 12. According to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, as part of his plea agreement, Turdialiev provided his victims with $9 in damages — almost 92% of what he stole in the scam.
From September to November 2016, Turdialiev met with four Uzbeks living in Queens, according to prosecutors. He claimed that he could obtain American visas for their relatives at home, and demanded money for this service.
When the first victim paid Turdialiev $32 in October 000, the scammer gave him the address of an alleged office in Ukraine and told him that his four relatives should send their Uzbek passports and an American visa application there. Later, Turdialiev provided the victim with a photocopy of one of the visas. However, the relatives of the victim did not receive anything. It later emerged that the US State Department's Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) intercepted a package in Moldova that contained Uzbek passports belonging to the victim's family, as well as counterfeit American visas.
The second victim paid the defendant a total of $49 for US visas for her two sons and brother living in Uzbekistan. In October 000, the defendant sent this woman a photocopy of the passport of one of her relatives with a US visa. However, upon receiving the passports, the victim's relatives realized by the appearance of the visas that they were fake.
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In October 2016, a third victim paid Turdialiev $17 for a US visa for a relative living in Uzbekistan. Turdialiev told the man to provide his passport and visa application to his alleged partner in Uzbekistan. As a result, the man did not receive a visa and was not even able to take back his passport.
In November 2016, the fourth victim gave Turdialiev $17 in cash to apply for a US visa for her brother, who lives in Uzbekistan. The victim accused Turdialiev of fraud when her relative, having followed all the instructions of the fraudster, did not receive his passport back. In February 000, Turdialiev agreed to return the Uzbek passport to the victim, but he did not return the money allegedly paid for the visa.
In October 2017, Queens prosecutors indicted Turdialiev on nine counts, including criminal possession of stolen property and grand larceny. But shortly after that, he fled New York State. In June 2022, Turdialiev was charged with grand larceny in Clackamas County, Oregon. As a result, Turdialiev was extradited to Queens, where he made a deal with the investigation and pleaded guilty.
