Investigations

In December 2011, Irina Peterson, Khrystyna Davyda, Iryna Starovoyt, Tair Rustamov, Leonid Vilchik, Mikhail Amino, Irina Rakhman, Tatyana Kroshnev, and Vitaliy Kroshnev were sentenced on charges of conspiracy, making false statements, making false statements to a bank, and aiding and abetting in U.S. District Court, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  The named defendants were conspirators who operated International Training Academy (ITA) which purported to be both a truck-driving school and tractor-trailer rental business.  ITA rented tractor-trailers for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) regulated commercial driver's license (CDL) Skills Test. 

The named conspirators allegedly bypassed FMCSA regulations by providing customers with false Pennsylvania residency documents used to satisfy Pennsylvania Department of Transportation requirements and to open illicit bank accounts to facilitate the scheme.  After ITA established the false Pennsylvania residency of the unqualified applicant, corrupt interpreters nefariously provided answers to the customers while taking the FMCSA regulated CDL Knowledge Test.  The conspirators aided approximately 400 unqualified applicants to falsely obtain a Pennsylvania CDL. 

Irina Peterson and  Khrystyna Davyda were sentenced to 60 months probation and ordered to forfeit $24,350 and $14500, respectively.  Iryna Starovoyt was sentenced to 36 months probation, 100 hours community service, and ordered to forfeit $10,000.  Tair Rustamov was sentenced to 6 months incarceration to be served at a half-way house, 36 months supervised release, and ordered to forfeit $2,300.  Leonid Vilchik was sentenced to 6 months home confinement, 60 months supervised release, and ordered to forfeit $3,000 and Mikhail Aminov was sentenced to 6 months imprisonment, 36 months supervised release, and ordered to forfeit $7,800.  Irina Rakhman was sentenced to 6 months incarceration to be served at a half-way house, 60 months supervised release, and ordered to forfeit $1,600.  Tatyana Kroshnev was sentenced to 24 months imprisonment, 36 months supervised release, and ordered to forfeit $445,450 jointly with defendant Vitaliy Kroshnev. Vitaliy Kroshnev was sentenced to 30 months imprisonment, 36 months supervised release, and the joint forfeiture with Tatyana Kroshnev.