Edward Y. Kim, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that Shukhratjon Mirsaidov and Shukhrat Abdullaev have been sentenced for their involvement in a money laundering scheme. Mirsaidov received a sentence of one year and a day, while Abdullaev was sentenced to 24 months in prison. The scheme operated from June 2019 to February 2022 using the U.S. bank account of an international airline with a hub at John F. Kennedy International Airport, where Mirsaidov was the lead U.S.-based executive.
Judge Loretta A. Preska imposed Mirsaidov's sentence recently, following Abdullaev's sentencing on September 4, 2024. Both defendants pled guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Acting U.S. Attorney Edward Y. Kim stated: “For years Shukhratjon Mirsaidov and Shukrat Abdullaev engaged in a scheme to launder healthcare fraud proceeds through the accounts of an international airline in order to conceal the illicit nature of these funds."
According to court documents and statements made during proceedings, Mirsaidov and Abdullaev used the airline's bank account to operate a check-cashing scheme involving healthcare fraud proceeds. Between June 2019 and August 2021, over 100 checks were deposited into this account from shell companies involved in fraudulent activities.
Abdullaev obtained these checks from individuals perpetrating healthcare fraud and provided them to Mirsaidov for cashing using funds generated from airline ticket sales. The cash was then returned to those controlling the shell companies.
In addition, between June 2021 and February 2022, law enforcement conducted sting operations involving both defendants using the same bank account for laundering transactions represented as fraud proceeds.
The participants in the underlying healthcare fraud have been charged separately under U.S. v. Tariverdi et al., No. 24 Cr. 599 (JPO).
Besides imprisonment, Mirsaidov has been ordered to pay forfeiture amounting to $674,171 and will face supervised release conditions post-sentence completion along with Abdullaev who must pay $704,171.
Kim commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation for its work on this case handled by his office’s Illicit Finance and Money Laundering Unit with Assistant U.S Attorneys Cecilia Vogel, Christopher Brumwell, and Vladislav Vainberg leading prosecution efforts.