Queens Man Convicted of Extortion Conspiracy

A federal jury in Brooklyn this afternoon convicted Shlomo Patchiav, also known as "Slava Fatkhiev," of participating in an extortion conspiracy in which he repeatedly threatened a victim to force the victim to pay him. The verdict was returned after a three-week trial before United States District Judge Dora L. Irizarry. When sentenced, Patchiav faces up to 20 years in prison.

Joseph Nocella, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York and James C. Barnacle, Jr., Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI) announced the verdict.

"Today's verdict holds the defendant accountable for extorting a victim for money and threatening to hold him 'hostage,' and then covering up his connection to the victim after the victim's murder by concealing his body," stated United States Attorney Nocella.

"Shlomo Patchiav agreed to extort a victim for money before trying to hide his connection to this conspiracy once the victim was found murdered. May today's verdict emphasize the FBI's commitment to ensuring violent intimidation tactics and attempts to cover up crimes do not go unpunished," stated FBI Assistant Director in Charge Barnacle.

As proven at trial, Patchiav and a co-conspirator (the Co-Conspirator) engaged in an extortion conspiracy in which they used threats and violence against the victim, Shehroz Tokhirov, after the three men failed to reach an agreement in a luxury watch deal. Patchiav owned a wholesale jewelry and diamond business. In June 2022, Patchiav and the Co-Conspirator engaged in discussions with Tokhirov about the potential sale of several luxury watches for approximately $500,000. Thereafter, Patchiav and the Co-Conspirator began demanding money from Tokhirov and threatening him.

On the morning of June 25, 2022, Tokhirov left his apartment in the Kensington section of Brooklyn carrying a plastic bag full of cash. Video surveillance footage showed Tokhirov and the Co-Conspirator at a TD Bank in Brooklyn, where Tokhirov withdrew approximately $10,000 in cash and obtained a cashier's check for $20,000 that was made out to the Co-Conspirator. The two men then went to a tax services store where Tokhirov signed a document turning over his Mercedes Benz SUV to the Co-Conspirator. Tokhirov was not seen or heard from after that meeting, and, eight months later, his body was recovered from a residence in Ellenville, New York. Evidence admitted at trial, including cell phone location data, placed Patchiav and the Co-Conspirator in Ellenville, New York on June 26, 2022, the day after Tokhirov's disappearance.

On June 27, 2022, the Co-Conspirator purchased a ticket for a Turkish Airlines flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport to the Republic of Georgia, departing on June 28, 2022. On the date of his departure, law enforcement officers seized from the Co-Conspirator approximately $26,500 in cash and a receipt for the $20,000 check that Tokhirov had obtained at TD Bank on the day of his disappearance.

The Co-Conspirator remains at large.

The government's case is being handled by the Office's Organized Crime and Gangs Section. Assistant United States Attorneys Megan Larkin and Benjamin Weintraub are in charge of the prosecution with the assistance of Assistant U.S. Attorney Dana Rehnquist and Paralegal Specialist John Schneider.

The Defendant:

SHLOMO PATCHIAV (also known as "Slava Fatkhiev")
Age: 45
Kew Gardens, Queens

E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 23-CR-99 (DLI)