A Kew Gardens jeweler was convicted by a federal jury in Brooklyn of extortion conspiracy on May 27 following a three-week trial.
Shlomo Patchiav, 45, who is also known as “Slava Fatkhiev,” and his unnamed co-defendant who remains at large, were found guilty of conspiring against Shehroz Tokhirov, of Kensington, Brooklyn, who they repeatedly threatened with violence if he failed to pay them after a $500,000 luxury watch deal fell through in June 2022. Tokhirov’s body was later found in an upstate residence in Ellenville, New York.
Shlomo Patchiav faces up to 20 years in prison after he was found guilty following a three-week trial in Brooklyn federal court along with a co-conspirator who remains at large. The victim was found dead in Upstate Ulster County.Photo courtesy of EDNY
“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,” U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Joseph Nocella said following the guilty verdict.
As proven at trial, Patchiav and his co-conspirator engaged in the extortion conspiracy and threatened violence against the victim after the three men failed to reach an agreement in the luxury watch deal. Patchiav owned a wholesale jewelry and diamond business. In June 2022, Patchiav and his co-conspirator engaged in discussions with Tokhirov about the potential sale of several luxury watches for a half-million dollars. After the deal fell through, the threats of violence began.
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 shows Tokhirov and the co-conspirator at a TD Bank branch 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 business 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 at the Ellenville home in upstate Ulster County. Evidence admitted at trial, including cell phone location data, placed Patchiav and his co-conspirator in Ellenville on June 26, 2022, the day after Tokhirov’s disappearance. The following day, the co-conspirator purchased a ticket for a Turkish Airlines flight from JFK 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 the TD Bank on the day of his disappearance. The co-conspirator remains at large.
“Shlomo Patchiav agreed to extort a victim for money before trying to hide his connection to the conspiracy once the victim was found murdered,” FBI Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office James Barnacle said. “May today’s verdict emphasize the FBI’s commitment to ensuring violent intimidation tactics and attempts to cover up crimes do not go unpunished.”
The verdict was returned in Brooklyn federal court after a three-week trial before U.S. District Judge Dora L. Irizarry. When sentenced, Patchiav faces up to 20 years in federal prison.