Immigration case
No contest plea in database break-in
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Last Updated: 09/25/2007 02:51:54 AM MDT

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_6992326
A contract worker with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services pleaded no contest Monday to accessing a restricted computer database to check a pending application for a Russian immigrant.
Irena Mikhael Kapriyelova alerted the immigrant that she had no details but the file indicated he was under criminal investigation, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Hirata. In fact, he said, Garri Grigorian was suspected of being part of a money-laundering ring that moved millions of dollars from Russia to Utah bank accounts.
Kapriyelova, 47, a U.S. citizen originally from Azerbaijan, met Grigorian through a Russian market he operated in Midvale. After Grigorian asked her to check on his immigration file, she went into a database in February 2004 without authorization, prosecutors alleged.
Hirata said a warning inserted into Grigorian's computer file alerted immigration authorities about the illegal access.
Kapriyelova, of Sandy, faces up to a year in jail for the misdemeanor charge of fraud in connection with computers when she is sentenced Dec. 10 by U.S. Magistrate Samuel Alba.
Grigorian, who pleaded guilty to money laundering, was sentenced in 2005 to 51 months in prison. He also was ordered to pay the Russian government $17.4 million in restitution for unpaid taxes on the money that was transferred out of that country.
- Pamela Manson