ROCHESTER, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that a federal grand jury has returned an Indictment charging Igor Kasap, 34, and Arkadiy Kasap, 29, both of Rochester, N.Y., with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud. The charges carry and maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Igor Kasap is also charged with obstruction of correspondence and theft of United States mail, both of which are punishable by five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig R. Gestring, who is handling the case, stated that according to the indictment, the defendants placed online advertisements for stolen items on eBay. In one particular case, they tried to sell a stolen pallet of Exxon-Mobil jet engine oil. During the investigation of that incident, law enforcement found over 52,000 pieces of undelivered mail in the defendant’s Gates Warehouse, several thousand of which had been opened.
The defendants will be arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jonathan W. Feldman on July 31, 2014 at 9:00 a.m. in Rochester.
The Indictment is the culmination of an investigation on the part of Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Inspectors with the United States Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Shelly Binkowski, and Officers and Investigators of the Gates Police Department, under the direction of Chief James VanBrederode
The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
