reuters
07-31-2002, 06:49 PM
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Federal prosecutors Wednesday charged a man they identified as a "major organized crime figure" with trying to fix figure skating and ice dancing competitions at the 2002 Winter Olympics.
Alimzhan Tokhtakhounov, a native of Uzbekistan, is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery to influence a sporting competition, according to the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, James Comey, and the acting assistant FBI director in charge of the New York field office, Gregory Jones.
Comey and Jones said confidential sources told the FBI that Tokhtakhounov used his influence to broker a deal in which the pairs ice skating competition at the Salt Lake City Olympic Games would be won by the top Russian pair while the ice dancing competition would be won by the top French team.
Tokhtakhounov was arrested by Italian authorities at his resort residence in Forte Dei Marmi in northern Italy on a sealed complaint filed in New York on July 22, they said. They are seeking his extradition to New York.
The complaint says other unnamed co-conspirators also were involved.
If convicted, Tokhtakhounov could be sentenced to a maximum of five years in prison and fined up to $250,000 on both charges.
In the ice skating competition, the Russian team of Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulizde, who had a flawed performance, were awarded the gold medal, and the Canadian team of Jamie Sale and David Pelletier, were originally given the silver.
After a public outcry and an investigation by the International Olympic Committee, Sale and Pelletier were also awarded gold medals, while the Russian team was allowed to keep theirs.
In the ice dancing competition, the French pair of Marina Anissina, and Gwendal Peizerat narrowly won the gold. Anissina is a Russian native.
In the IOC investigation, one of the pairs competition judges, Marie-Reine Le Gougne of France, first said had been pressured to vote for the Russians by the president of the French Skating Federation, but she later retracted that claim. The International Skating Council banned both her and French skating head Didier Gailhaguet from the sport for three years.
The evidence in the case against Tokhtakhounov includes wiretaps of his conversations, including phone calls with a known member of the "Russian mafia," according to an FBI agent's affidavit that was released by authorities.
That agent, William E. McCausland, described a conversation with an unnamed co-conspirator -- identified as CC-1 -- who, he said, was a known member of Russian organized crime. Told that the mother of the woman on the French ice dancing team had called Tokhtakhounov "regarding the Olympics," CC-1 said, "We will help her. That's a given," McCausland said.
CC-1 directed Tokhtakhounov to another Russian, identified as CC-2, who told him, "our French have amazed me in a good way. ... The Canadians were 10 times better and in spite of that, the French, with their vote, gave us first place," the FBI agent's affidavit says.
The investigation into co-conspirators is continuing, officials said.
The U.S. attorney's office and the FBI describe Tokhtakhounov as having been born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, either on January 1, 1949, or January 1, 1940.
McCausland's affidavit says Interpol, the international police organization, believes Tokhtakhounov has been involved in drug distribution, illegal firearm sales and trafficking in stolen vehicles. The FBI agent added that Tokhtakhounov is alleged to have fixed beauty pageants in Moscow in the early 1990s.
Comey addressed how his office, which prosecutes crime in New York City and its surrounding counties, could prosecute a man who made all of the conspiratorial phone calls while he was in Italy.
"We have a very long-standing interest and success in investigating and prosecuting Russian organized crime, which since the breakup of the Soviet Union is called Eurasian organized crime, and in particular in this defendant," Comey said.
"We've been investigating this defendant for a variety of other things for over a year -- 'we' meaning the U.S. Attorney's Office and the FBI's Organized Crime Task Force. So we have a keen interest in this individual and his organization," he said.
In a written statement, the U.S. Figure Skating Association said it was "surprised by the announcement" of Tokhtakhounov's arrest.
It added, "The USFSA fully supports the ongoing investigation by federal prosecutors concerning any alleged criminal activity at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games."
Alimzhan Tokhtakhounov, a native of Uzbekistan, is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery to influence a sporting competition, according to the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, James Comey, and the acting assistant FBI director in charge of the New York field office, Gregory Jones.
Comey and Jones said confidential sources told the FBI that Tokhtakhounov used his influence to broker a deal in which the pairs ice skating competition at the Salt Lake City Olympic Games would be won by the top Russian pair while the ice dancing competition would be won by the top French team.
Tokhtakhounov was arrested by Italian authorities at his resort residence in Forte Dei Marmi in northern Italy on a sealed complaint filed in New York on July 22, they said. They are seeking his extradition to New York.
The complaint says other unnamed co-conspirators also were involved.
If convicted, Tokhtakhounov could be sentenced to a maximum of five years in prison and fined up to $250,000 on both charges.
In the ice skating competition, the Russian team of Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulizde, who had a flawed performance, were awarded the gold medal, and the Canadian team of Jamie Sale and David Pelletier, were originally given the silver.
After a public outcry and an investigation by the International Olympic Committee, Sale and Pelletier were also awarded gold medals, while the Russian team was allowed to keep theirs.
In the ice dancing competition, the French pair of Marina Anissina, and Gwendal Peizerat narrowly won the gold. Anissina is a Russian native.
In the IOC investigation, one of the pairs competition judges, Marie-Reine Le Gougne of France, first said had been pressured to vote for the Russians by the president of the French Skating Federation, but she later retracted that claim. The International Skating Council banned both her and French skating head Didier Gailhaguet from the sport for three years.
The evidence in the case against Tokhtakhounov includes wiretaps of his conversations, including phone calls with a known member of the "Russian mafia," according to an FBI agent's affidavit that was released by authorities.
That agent, William E. McCausland, described a conversation with an unnamed co-conspirator -- identified as CC-1 -- who, he said, was a known member of Russian organized crime. Told that the mother of the woman on the French ice dancing team had called Tokhtakhounov "regarding the Olympics," CC-1 said, "We will help her. That's a given," McCausland said.
CC-1 directed Tokhtakhounov to another Russian, identified as CC-2, who told him, "our French have amazed me in a good way. ... The Canadians were 10 times better and in spite of that, the French, with their vote, gave us first place," the FBI agent's affidavit says.
The investigation into co-conspirators is continuing, officials said.
The U.S. attorney's office and the FBI describe Tokhtakhounov as having been born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, either on January 1, 1949, or January 1, 1940.
McCausland's affidavit says Interpol, the international police organization, believes Tokhtakhounov has been involved in drug distribution, illegal firearm sales and trafficking in stolen vehicles. The FBI agent added that Tokhtakhounov is alleged to have fixed beauty pageants in Moscow in the early 1990s.
Comey addressed how his office, which prosecutes crime in New York City and its surrounding counties, could prosecute a man who made all of the conspiratorial phone calls while he was in Italy.
"We have a very long-standing interest and success in investigating and prosecuting Russian organized crime, which since the breakup of the Soviet Union is called Eurasian organized crime, and in particular in this defendant," Comey said.
"We've been investigating this defendant for a variety of other things for over a year -- 'we' meaning the U.S. Attorney's Office and the FBI's Organized Crime Task Force. So we have a keen interest in this individual and his organization," he said.
In a written statement, the U.S. Figure Skating Association said it was "surprised by the announcement" of Tokhtakhounov's arrest.
It added, "The USFSA fully supports the ongoing investigation by federal prosecutors concerning any alleged criminal activity at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games."