United States Attorney's Office District of Connecticut
Press Release

TWO MEN CAUGHT IN MERIDEN SENTENCED FOR INVOLVEMENT IN BANK FRAUD SCHEME

Kevin J. O’Connor, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that IGOR SHAPOSHNIKOV, age 20, of Brooklyn, New York, was sentenced today by Chief United States District Judge Robert N. Chatigny in Hartford to three months of imprisonment, followed by three months home confinement, on his conviction for bank fraud in connection with a scheme to use counterfeit ATM cards to withdraw money from various bank accounts. Judge Chatigny also ordered SHAPOSHNIKOV to serve three years of supervised release. On May 27, 2004, Judge Chatigny sentenced SHAPOSHNIKOV’s co-defendant, ROMAN IAKOUBTCHIK, age 21, of Far Rockaway, New York, to five months of imprisonment, followed by five months of home confinement, for his involvement in the same scheme. In addition, IAKOUBTCHIK was sentenced for his role in a similar scheme that resulted in an indictment, charging him with wire fraud, in the District of Maryland. IAKOUBTCHIK’s Maryland case was joined with the Connecticut charges for purposes of sentencing.

On July 8, 2003, SHAPOSHNIKOV was indicted on various charges related to the bank fraud scheme. On November 13, 2003, he pleaded guilty to bank fraud. On December 22, 2003, IAKOUBTCHIK pleaded guilty to the Maryland charges and also to an Information charging him with the Connecticut bank fraud.

The Connecticut charges arose from events on April 21, 2003, when SHAPOSHNIKOV and IAKOUBTCHIK were arrested by Meriden police, who caught the two men withdrawing funds from an ATM machine at Hudson United Bank in Meriden. Investigators from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Secret Service determined that the defendants had obtained hundreds of blank ATM cards, as well as account data for some 284 financial accounts. They had encoded the data from those accounts onto the credit cards and traveled to Boston and then to Meriden, where they withdrew funds from ATMs in both locations. SHAPOSHNIKOV and IAKOUBTCHIK withdrew approximately $7,000 in Boston and $4,340 in Meriden.

According to statements made in court, shortly after midnight on April 21, 2003, a citizen observed SHAPOSHNIKOV and IAKOUBTCHIK at the ATM and, noting the suspicious way in which they were conducting themselves, called the police. Meriden Police arrived on the scene, causing the defendants to flee on foot. Officers pursued the defendants and placed both men under arrest, finding dozens of cards and large amounts of cash on both men. Thereafter, police searched the defendants’ vehicle, finding additional cards and cash.

This case was investigated by the Meriden Police Department, Special Agents of the United States Secret Service and Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney John A. Danaher III prosecuted the case.

CONTACT:

U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
Tom Carson
(203) 821-3722
thomas.carson@usdoj.gov