San Diego Man Pleads Guilty to International Scheme Involving Debit Card Fraud And Conspiracy to Launder Money

San Diego, California - United States Attorney Karen P. Hewitt announced that Mikhail M. Tuknov, Jr. pleaded guilty today in federal court in San Diego to debit card fraud and conspiracy to launder money. Mr. Tuknov pleaded guilty to Counts 1 and 44 of the indictment which was handed up by a federal grand jury on October 22, 2008 . As a consequence, he faces a maximum total sentence of up to 30 years in prison and up to $750,000 in fines.

According to Assistant U. S. Attorney Mitch Dembin, who is prosecuting this case, Mr. Tuknov pleaded guilty to two counts of the indictment before United States District Judge John A. Houston. In connection with his guilty plea, Mr. Tuknov admitted that he obtained debit card numbers and associated personal identification numbers (“PINS”) for bank accounts of actual persons from sources in Russia and distributed those numbers to an associate in the Dominican Republic. The associate then used the numbers to encode blank debit card plastics and delivered them, by a variety of means, to other criminal associates in New York City. The New York City associates used the fake debit cards to fraudulently access the bank accounts tied to these cards at Automated Teller Machines and withdraw cash. The proceeds were sent by a variety of means to the Russian sources who paid Mr. Tuknov his commission and sent new numbers to him to generate more cash. Mr. Tuknov admitted that between August 2005 and March 2006, he moved approximately 1044 fraudulent debit card numbers and 1045 related PINS to his associates, resulting in losses to the issuing banks of approximately $371,000.00.

This case was investigated by Special Agents assigned to the Cybercrime Squad of the San Diego Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations. Mr. Tuknov will be sentenced on May 26, 2009, at 10:30 a.m., by Judge Houston. The defendant has been in custody since his arrest on October 23, 2008. DEFENDANT Case Number: 08cr3663 - JAH Mikhail M. Tuknov, Jr. San Diego, California Age: 28

SUMMARY OF CHARGES
Count 1: Title 18, United States Code, Section 1029(a)(2) and (b)(1) - Debit Card Fraud
Maximum Penalties: 10 years of imprisonment and $250,000 fine
Count 44: Title 18, United States Code, Section 1956(h) - Conspiracy to Launder Money
Maximum Penalties: 20 years of imprisonment and $500,000 fine

Former Oak Ridge Complex Employee Pleads Guilty to Unlawful Disclosure of Restricted Atomic Energy Data

WASHINGTON – Roy Lynn Oakley, 67, a resident of Harriman, Tenn., pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Knoxville, to count one of an indictment charging him with unlawful disclosure of Restricted Data under the Atomic Energy Act, in violation of 42 U.S.C., Section 2274(b).

The guilty plea was announced today by Matthew G. Olsen, Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security, and James R. Dedrick, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee.

Oakley had been scheduled to start trial today, but appeared instead before U.S. District Court Judge Thomas A. Varlan, to enter his plea of guilty. Oakley had formerly been employed as a laborer and escort by Bechtel Jacobs at the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP) in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The ETTP, formerly known as Y-25, had previously been operated by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) as a facility to produce highly enriched uranium.

According to the plea agreement, while employed at the ETTP in 2006 through 2007, Oakley had a security clearance that permitted him to have access to classified and protected materials, including instruments, appliances and information relating to the gaseous diffusion process for enriching uranium. Some of the materials and information to which Oakley had access were classified as "Restricted Data" under the Atomic Energy Act, any disclosure of which was illegal. While he worked at the ETTP, Oakley had been instructed and informed that this Restricted Data could not be disclosed.

The plea agreement further states that based on the investigation the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) determined that Oakley may have been in possession of protected materials that belonged to the DOE and was offering to sell the materials to a foreign government. The FBI initiated an undercover investigation and, in January 2007, the FBI contacted Oakley using an undercover agent assuming the role of an agent of a foreign government.

In recorded calls and during a face-to-face meeting with the FBI undercover agent, Oakley stated that he had taken certain parts of uranium enrichment fuel rods or tubes and other associated hardware items from the ETTP work site and that he wanted to sell these materials for $200,000 to the foreign government. Once Oakley handed over the pieces of tubes and associated items to the undercover FBI agent and received $200,000 in cash, he was confronted by agents of the FBI and admitted to his efforts to sell these materials to a foreign government.

The materials Oakley had tried to sell to a foreign government were, in fact, pieces of equipment known as "barrier" and associated hardware items that play a crucial role in the production of highly enriched uranium, a special nuclear material, through the gaseous diffusion process.

The maximum penalty for violation of the Atomic Energy Act by disclosing Restricted Data is a maximum of ten years imprisonment and a criminal fine of $250,000. A sentencing hearing has been set before Judge Varlan for May 14, 2009, at 10:00 a.m., in U.S. District Court in Knoxville.

Matthew G. Olsen, Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security, said, "Today’s guilty plea should serve as a strong warning to anyone who would consider selling restricted U.S. nuclear materials to foreign governments. The facts of this case demonstrate the importance of safeguarding America’s atomic energy data and pursuing aggressive prosecutions against those who attempt to breach those safeguards."

U.S. Attorney James R. Dedrick said, "Vigorous enforcement of the law controlling the protection of national security information, especially that involving materials associated with atomic energy and weapons, is of the highest priority for the Department of Justice and is a vital part of our duty to protect national security and the nation’s defense system. The exposure of Oakley’s conduct and subsequent investigation by the FBI, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and the Department of Justice reflects the Department’s dedication to combating any threat to the security of our nation’s atomic secrets wherever it may happen."

The indictment was the result of an investigation by the FBI, DOE’s Oak Ridge Counterintelligence Field Office, and DOE’s Headquarters Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence. Assistant U.S. Attorney A. William Mackie from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee, and Trial Attorney Anthony P. Garcia, from the Counterespionage Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, represented the United States in this case.

For additional information, please contact U.S. Attorney James "Russ" Dedrick, Assistant U.S. Attorney William Mackie or Public Information Officer Sharry Dedman-Beard at (865) 545-4167.