A Russian mobster has been extradited from Ukraine and sentenced to a decade behind bars for masterminding a $9 million fraud scheme involving exotic car leasing to drug traffickers and others, the U.S. Department of Justice announced. Mani Chulpayev was arrested in Ukraine in 2020, hiding under a fake identity and working as a movie producer. His fraudulent activities catered to criminals in the Atlanta and Miami areas from 2009 to 2016, as per the federal prosecutors.
Chulpayev, who came to the US at the age of 12, quickly climbed the ranks of a Russian crime organization in Brooklyn and Queens. After serving time for previous crimes, he started the car leasing business in Atlanta. Using straw purchasers to secure luxury vehicles, Chulpayev and his associates then leased them out to drug traffickers. The straw buyers were left with massive debts when Chulpayev stopped making loan payments, pushing banks into futile attempts to recover their assets, according to U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan.
Buchanan also said, "Chulpayev then used the fruits of his fraud – a fleet of exotic cars – to enable drug traffickers to operate, evade detection, and launder their illicit proceeds." The crackdown on Chulpayev's operation, known as "Operation Riding Dirty," marked an end to a collaborative effort of several agencies, targeting not just the fraudsters and drug traffickers, but also the corrupt officials who enabled them.
Chulpayev's network was wide-reaching, implicating people in various sectors, including the U.S. Postal Service, where 17 employees were convicted of bribery and drug distribution. He also had under his influence corrupt law enforcement agents, such as Dunwoody Police Department's Detective Robert Bentivegna, who was convicted for accepting bribes from Chulpayev. These bribes included airline tickets and luxury cars for Bentivegna's children, in return for protecting Chulpayev from arrest warrants, as the DOJ detailed.
The sentencing casts a glaring spotlight on not just the criminal enterprises but also on those appointed to serve and protect yet chose to align themselves with criminality. With Chulpayev now facing 10 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and over $4.6 million in restitution, the message to those who defraud and launder is clear. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Garrett L. Bradford and investigated as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces, which aims to disrupt and dismantle major criminal organizations threatening the United States.
