Two Parma residents sentenced in connection with fraudulent drivers licenses
Published: Thursday, September 09, 2010, 11:52 AM Updated: Thursday, September 09, 2010, 1:10 PM
Bob Sandrick, Sun News
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PARMA Two Parma residents have been sentenced for their part in a driver’s-license scheme involving Ukrainians in Greater Cleveland.

Vitaly Fedorchuk, 40, was sentenced to 46 months in prison on Aug. 19. Federal investigators said he led a group that illegally brought foreign nationals to Greater Cleveland and helped them obtain fraudulent drivers’ licenses.
Fedorchuk had been found guilty of federal conspiracy to commit fraud and related activity.

Meanwhile, Sonya Hilaszek, 46, has been sentenced to 33 months in prison. She was Fedorchuk’s co-conspirator.

Another co-conspirator, Pavlo Mostranskyy, 46, of Cleveland, was also sentenced to 33 months in prison.

Mostranskyy had pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and one count of money laundering.

Fedorchuk and Hilaszek allegedly sold drivers’ licenses to Ukrainians living illegally in the United States.

The sales were made in the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles’ Parma office, where Hilaszek was deputy registrar.

The scheme was part of larger international scheme to bring Ukrainians illegally into the United States.

As of Aug. 19, 16 people associated with the scheme had been found guilty while two others remained at large.

According to the FBI:

In 2007, the FBI received a tip that members of Greater Cleveland’s Ukrainian community were helping foreign nationals come here illegally.

Part of the scheme involved helping foreign nationals buy drivers’ licenses.

The FBI identified Fedorchuk as the ringleader and said Hilaszek was selling driver’s licenses for $1,500-$3,000 to Ukrainian nationals who had fraudulent or no supporting documents.

Mostranskyy, a Ukrainian national, acted as a middleman who helped bring foreign nationals to Greater Cleveland.

According to a federal bill of information, Mostranskyy helped create false documents, including visas and border-crossing cards.

Other scheme participants — living in several U.S. cities, including Cincinnati, Newark, Philadelphia and Chicago — helped Hilaszek and Fedorchuk find customers.

Helping in the investigation were the Ohio State Highway Patrol, Ohio Department of Public Safety, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the IRS and the Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General.

The investigation found that the scheme had been operating for four years and that 300-500 illegal drivers’ licenses had been sold.

It also revealed that the suspects in Ohio were working with another group in Ukraine to obtain fraudulent, non-immigrant visas for Ukrainians.

The Ukrainians used the visas to come to Ohio and other parts of the United States.

The visas, at $12,000 each, were obtained at the U.S. Embassy in Kiev, Ukraine, through corrupt Ukrainian workers at the embassy.

On Aug. 19, Ukrainian officials detained seven members of the Ukrainian-based group, including two embassy workers.
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