Five Allston roommates at 35 Allston St. were arrested on March 18 for their alleged involvement in an elaborate identity theft scheme based in Russia that swindled more than $20,000 in stolen electronics.
Dmitry Nekrasov, 21, Semen Nikulin, 23, Kirill Adreenko, 21, Tatiana Mishanina, 23, and Svetlana Kravtsova, 19, were allegedly recruited in online chat rooms to purchase more than $20,000 dollars in electronics with illegally obtained credit cards, according to a March 19 Boston Police Department press release. The electronics were then supposed to be shipped to a store in Russia for $50 per package, the release showed.
Undercover Boston Police detectives dressed as FedEx employees arrived at the alleged thieves’ residence to deliver a package of two illegally purchased cameras.
Investigators obtained information that led them to the alleged thieves from a camera company based in New Jersey, according to the BPD. The company tipped police that 22 digital cameras and one cell phone with a total value of about $20,000 had been shipped through FedEx to 35 Allston Street in less than two months.
According to a March 21article in The Boston Globe, Nekrasov and Nikulin were charged with identity fraud, larceny by scheme and receiving stolen property while Adreenko, Kravtsova and Mishanina were charged with larceny by scheme and receiving stolen property. Each of the defendants plead not guilty, according to the article.
Val Gurvits, defense attorney for Kravtsova, Mishanina and Adreenko, said his clients were only arrested because they were home at the time of the bust. Gurvits added they were not part of the identity theft ring but might have unknowingly signed for the stolen goods.
“Knowingly receiving stolen goods is a crime,” Gurvits said. “So the question is did they have knowledge? I suppose if the act of signing for a parcel combined with the knowledge that there is stolen goods, then maybe that is the theory under which my clients were charged, but I think that they are going to have a very difficult time proving knowledge, at least for my clients.”
Boston Police spokesman John Boyle said he was unable to comment on the case without first consulting with the district attorney because he has already been called to testify.