The last of five men who fenced stolen jewelry from across North Texas has been sentenced in federal court.
Prominent New York City jewelry dealer Yuri Alishaev bought stolen jewelry from fencers who worked in North Texas and sold it at his pricey store on 47th street in New York City. A judge sentenced Alishaev to probation and ordered him to repay more than $1-million.
The group acted as middlemen who bought from thieves then sold to crooked dealers around the world. In all the South American Theft and Robbery Group fenced more than $7-million dollars’ worth of stolen merchandise. Some with blood on it.
Among the victims was Pakistani jewelry salesman Muhammad Shaikh, 41.
He had been in the Metroplex for sales calls on June 9th, 2016. As the businessman was about to return home, he was returning a rental car when he was abducted from a Shell gas station on DFW International Airport property. He was robbed, murdered, and his body was subsequently discovered in Irving a short while later.
The five gang members who robbed Shaikh sold the stolen jewelry to the group of fencers. All five were subsequently arrested, convicted, and are in federal prison.
The gangs were sophisticated, with the thieves shadowing salesmen and the fencers making the hot merchandise usable.
“You have to turn it into cash and that’s the trick. These people that were sentenced are the key to making a robbery operation like this, a very sophisticated robbery operation, work,” said Richard Roper, a former Dallas U.S. Attorney who now works as a criminal defense lawyer.
Others who worked in the fencing operation, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office, were:
Romelio Rivieron, 51, who pled guilty in March 2020 to engaging in a conspiracy to launder money, was sentenced to 32 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $2,321,491.61 in restitution. He has already paid back approximately $230,000 towards the victims of his crime.
Co-conspirators Elkin Acosta Lopez, 46, and Harrinson Corredor, 29, who both pled guilty in 2019 to the same charge as Mr. Riveron, were previously sentenced to 68 months and 63 months, respectively. Mr. Corredor was ordered to pay $1,753,089 in restitution while Mr. Lopez was ordered to pay $1,368,088.68.
Rubenhay Pinkhasov, 60, who pled guilty to engaging in 2019 to conspiracy to transport stolen goods in interstate commerce, was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $1,007,823 in restitution.
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