Guilty Verdit in $6.6M Contraband Cigarettes Trial

A 24-year-old Owings Mills man was convicted this week for his involvement in a $6.6 million contraband cigarette operation.

Nikolay Zakharyan was convicted in federal court, days after his father Artur Zakharyan, 54, pleaded guilty to his participation in the conspiracy.

Since late 2011, the operation would funnel cigarettes that had not been taxed from Baltimore County to Brooklyn, N.Y., according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

According to their guilty pleas, Elmar Rakhamimov was the leader and organizer of the scheme, and he coordinated with Ilgar Rakhamimov (no relation) and Artur Zakharyan to collect the money to purchase the contraband cigarettes, and to arrange for the storage and transportation. This included 18 purchases between December of 2011 and November of 2013 from an undercover FBI agent operating in the Baltimore County.

According to court documents and testimony at the five day trial, Artur Zakharyan recruited his son, Nikolay Zakharyan, to participate in the scheme. Nikolay Zakharyan assisted in the unloading, accounting, bagging, moving and loading of the master cases of contraband cigarettes.

The total tax evaded over the course of the conspiracy was more than $2.5 million.

As part of his plea agreement, Artur Zakharyan is required to forfeit $50,000 believed to be proceeds of the offense, $11,947 and a 1 troy ounce gold bar seized from Zakharyan’s belongings on December 17, 2013, and four troy ounce gold bars and a gold coin seized from his home on December 11, 2013.

Artur and Nikolay Zakharyan each face a maximum sentence of five years in prison for conspiracy to traffic in contraband cigarettes. U.S. District Judge William D. Quarles, Jr. has scheduled sentencing for Artur Zakharyan for July 9 and for Nikolay Zakharyan on July 29.

Elmar Rakhamimov, a/k/a “Eric Rakhamimov,” age 42, of Owings Mills, Maryland, and his brother, Salim Yusufov, age 44, of Reisterstown, Maryland; Ilgar Rakhamimov, age 41, Zarakh Yelizarov, age 52, and Adam Azerman, age 60, all of Pikesville, Maryland; and Shamil Novakhov, age 59, and Ruslan Ykiew, age 40, both of Brooklyn, New York, previously pleaded guilty to their roles in the conspiracy and are awaiting sentencing.