ATLANTA – Mani Chulpayev, the leader of a luxury car leasing scheme that operated in the Atlanta and Miami areas from 2009 to 2016, has been sentenced to prison and ordered to pay more than $4.6 million in restitution. Chulpayev was arrested in October 2020 while hiding in Ukraine, using a fake identity, and working as a movie producer. His conviction marks the end of a multi-agency collaboration known as “Operation Riding Dirty,” which targeted a web of drug traffickers utilizing multiple, hard-to-trace cars, the fraudsters who laundered drug money for the traffickers and left banks and investors on the hook for millions of dollars of losses, and the corrupt government officials who facilitated and protected the traffickers.
“Chulpayev ran a sophisticated scheme that inflicted vast losses on banks and the individuals he recruited to assist his fraudulent scheme,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan. “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 disruption of his illegal network is the culmination of an unrelenting, coordinated, and comprehensive investigation by our agency partners.”
Robert J. Murphy, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Division stated, “Through hard work, this illegal drug distribution and money laundering network has been removed from our streets. This criminal enterprise had no regard for the potential impact of their actions.”
“This sentence punishes the defendant’s extensive criminal conduct and serves as a significant deterrent to others who would think about engaging in these types of illegal activities,” said Tommy D. Coke, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Atlanta Division. “Postal Inspectors and our law enforcement partners are proud of the prosecutive results of this aggressive and extensive investigation to dismantle this criminal…
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