Russian Teyf Ready To Give Up Passports As Condition Of Release From US Jail - Lawyer

Russian citizen Leonid Teyf is ready to give up his foreign passports in exchange for his release from prison as he awaits trial in the United States on accusations of bribery, murder-for-hire and running a kickback scheme through which he stole $150 million from Russia's government, his attorney James McLoughlin said in a court filing on Friday.

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th December, 2018) Russian citizen Leonid Teyf is ready to give up his foreign passports in exchange for his release from prison as he awaits trial in the United States on accusations of bribery, murder-for-hire and running a kickback scheme through which he stole $150 million from Russia's government, his attorney James McLoughlin said in a court filing on Friday.

"Mr. Teyf has Russian and Israeli citizenship and passports, which is prepared to surrender as a condition of release," the attorney said in an affidavit.

The defendant and his wife, Tatyana Teyf, and two other alleged accomplices are facing multiple charges related to a scheme through which they raked in $150 million in kickbacks from subcontractors doing business with Russia's military.

Prosecutors allege that the two began running the scheme in 2010, when then-Defense Minister Anatoliy Serdyukov granted his company, Voentorg, a contract to provide Russian military with goods and services, according to an indictment that was unsealed earlier this week.

Two other Russian citizens - Alexsy Timofeev and his wife Olesya Yuryevna Timofeeva - are accused of participating in a money laundering scheme to transfer the ill-gotten funds into bank accounts in multiple countries, the indictment said.

Teyf is also facing charges on dozens of other alleged crimes, including bribery and a murder-for-hire plot that saw him attempt to kill an unidentified Russian man whom he believed was having an affair with his wife, according to the indictment.

After learing of the affair, Teyf first sought to give a Department of Homeland Security agent a $10,000 bribe to deport the man out of the United States and back to Russia.

After the deportation plan failed, Teyf also allegedly conspired to have the man murdered and gave an undercover FBI source $25,000 to kill the man by the end of 2018, according to a Justice Department statement.

Teyf is also facing other charges including immigration fraud, aiding and abetting others by possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number and visa fraud, among other crimes.

In Friday's court filing, the defendant's attorney said Teyf has been experiencing medical issues such as kidney stones, diabetes and heart problems. He has been under medical observations during his imprisonment, the lawyer noted.

Teyf is currently being detained at the Wake County Detention Center in the US state of North Carolina awaiting trial and faces maximum penalties of 20 years in prison. His wife Tatyana Teyf, Alexsy Timofeev, Olesya Timofeeva and another associate, Alexei Polyakov, face maximum penalties of 10 years in prison, the Justice Department statement said.