NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – Two Brooklyn men were charged for selling fake law enforcement badges online to people so that they can get out of traffic tickets and drug arrests by flashing them, prosecutors said.
Eduard Zabolotnny, 54, made the badges, ID cards, a "lifetime" member card for the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association and sold them online on websites on eBay since 2019 for at least $100,000, according to a federal complaint, reported the Daily News.
The memberships included Port Authority Police Benevolent Association car shields which people can put on windshields so that officers might cut them a break.
Daniel Spektor, 21, paid over $35,000 for the fake IDs between May and October 2021, according to the federal complaint. He would then sell the badges and IDs on his social media accounts and even advertise them on Instagram stories, prosecutors said.
The fake IDs would sell for $450 to $900 each.
"I got a story for you," one of those testimonials read according to Daily News. "I'm upstate and break a red light in front [sic] of a cop doing 90 in a 40, cop walks up sees the FOP on the windshield sees the cards, hands me back my stuff says have a nice day and drive safe. Bro!"
In one of his Instagram posts, Spektor bragged about selling an FBI badge for $5,000, prosecutors said. He even used the badge himself when he was pulled over for a traffic violation on Dec. 29, telling officers that his uncle was an FBI agent.
"If you pull this bad boy out you're getting out of a 200 in a 20," he wrote, according to federal documents."The badge appeared the same or substantially similar to a legitimate FBI badge, which is designed by the FBI for use by its law enforcement agents," U.S. Postal Inspector Joseph E. Marcus wrote in his affidavit. "The identification card had affixed to it hat appears to be a seal of the FBI."
Both men were charged with breaking federal laws against possessing a badge or IDs with U.S. government seals.
Spektor was released on a $30,000 bond, secured by his parents, while Zabolotnyy's bond was set at $100,000.
