After murder-for-hire allegations, Russian couple sentenced for fraud
A Russian couple at the center of a murder-for-hire and money-laundering scheme in Wake County was sentenced Friday on fraud charges.
Posted — UpdatedHis wife, Tatiana Teyf, 43, pleaded guilty to making false statements in her naturalization process, also a felony. She was sentenced to time served and won't face deportation.
As part of their pleas, the Teyfs agreed to forfeit $5.9 million they had in banks, as well as various amounts of seized cash, and Leonid Teyf agreed to pay a $99,000 penalty for the tax violation.
On Friday, a federal judge ordered the government to return more than $2 million in artwork and vehicles seized from the couple.
Agents said Leonid Teyf told an FBI informant that he wanted the son of his housekeeper killed because he thought the man was having an affair with his wife. He told the informant that he wanted the son "kidnapped, taken into the woods, forced to admit to having sex with Tatiana Teyf on video then to be killed," according to a court document.
Leonid Teyf then decided he wanted the son deported because, if he was back in Russia, “he would be buried already," a court document states.
The friend then helped Leonid Teyf provide a $10,000 down payment, promising that, once the son was deported, the agent would get an additional $15,000.
When the deportation plan was taking longer than he expected, Leonid Teyf returned to the murder-for-hire plan and paid a federal informant $25,000 to kill the son, even providing him with a gun where the serial number had been removed, authorities said.
As part of plea deals, federal prosecutors dismissed murder-for-hire, weapons, money laundering, harboring illegal aliens and all but one of the tax charges against Leonid Teyf and all charges but the one she pleaded to against Tatiana Teyf.
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