Crime & Safety
Northbrook Man Pleads Guilty to Acquiring Vehicle Titles to Illegally Use Cars as Taxis
The salvaged and rebuilt cars in question were used as part of the "politically connected" Chicago Elite Cab Company.
A Northbrook man who had been accused of illegally obtaining titles to more than 100 salvaged and rebuilt vehicles in Illinois and Indiana pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to transport, receive and possess a counterfeit security, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced this week.
Alexander Igolnikov, 68 is accused of illegally using the vehicles as taxis in Chicago with Chicago Elite Cab Company - a “politically connected cab company for whom he was a top executive,” according to the Northbrook Star.
Prosecutors say that between 2007 and 2010, Igolnikov worked with two unnamed brokers in Indiana and one in Illinois to buy the titles through online auction sites and then use them as taxis. Some of the 183 vehicles were police cars that had been totaled in wrecks.
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Igolnikov was arrested in 2014. He will be sentenced on November 19 and faces a minimum of five years in prison.
Find out what's happening in Northbrookfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
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