Members of Alleged False Document Ring Indicted

Vitaliy Kroshnev, Tatyana Kroshnev, Leonid Vilchik, Iryna Starovoyt, Irina Peterson, Khrystyna Davyda, Viktor Davyda, and Tair Rustamov, and were arrested today and are charged by indictment¹, along with Mikhail Aminov, with conspiracy to produce and aiding and abetting the production of, false identification documents, announced United States Attorney Zane David Memeger. According to the indictment, unsealed today, the defendants, under the auspices of the Kroshnev’s business “International Training Academy,” arranged for hundreds of non-residents of Pennsylvania to fraudulently obtain Pennsylvania commercial driver’s licenses from 2007 to 2010. The alleged co-conspirators provided applicants with false Pennsylvania residency documents, as well as foreign language interpreters who gave applicants the answers to the written commercial driver’s license permit test. Vitaliy Kroshnev is additionally charged with making a materially false statement, and Khyrstyna Davyda is additionally charged with making a false statement to a bank.

INFORMATION REGARDING THE DEFENDANTS

If convicted, the defendants face a maximum possible sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment and a $250,000 fine on the conspiracy charge. Defendants Vitaliy Kroshnev and Khrystyna Davyda face an additional five years and 30 years, respectively, on the false statement charges.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Department of Transportation, with substantial assistance from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michelle Morgan-Kelly.

¹An Indictment or Information is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.