Minnesota Man Found Alive After Allegedly Faking His Death For Insurance Claim

United States Attorney Erica H. MacDonald today announced the arrest and extradition of IGOR VOROTINOV, 54. The defendant made his initial appearance on November 19, 2018, before United States Magistrate Judge Kate Menendez, in U.S. District Court, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. IGOR VOROTINOV was federally indicted on February 19, 2015, on one count of mail fraud. ^[1] He was arrested on November 14, 2018 in the Republic of Moldova, and extradited to the United States, arriving on United States soil on November 17, 2018.

According to the indictment and documents filed in court, in March 2010, IGOR VOROTINOV obtained a $2 million life insurance policy on his own life from Mutual of Omaha Insurance Company (Mutual of Omaha), and designated his wife, IRINA VOROTINOV, as the primary beneficiary.

According to the indictment and documents filed in court, on October 1, 2011, police in Moldova received a phone call reporting a dead body at the entrance of the Cojusna village in central Moldova. Documents recovered from the body, including a passport, hotel cards, and contact phone numbers, identified the man as IGOR VOROTINOV. IRINA VOROTINOV traveled to Moldova to identify the body. After positively identifying the corpse as IGOR, IRINA obtained a death certificate from Moldovan authorities and had the corpse cremated. Returning to the United States with the death certificate and an urn with ashes claiming to be that of IGOR’s remains, IRINA submitted the death claim to Mutual of Omaha for the $2 million policy. A funeral was held where the urn was placed in a niche at Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis.

According to the indictment and documents filed in court, on March 23, 2012, Mutual of Omaha sent a proceeds check in the amount of $2,048,414.09, via United States mail, to IRINA’S home in Maple Grove, Minnesota.

According to documents filed in court, IRINA recruited a third party to open an account at a local branch of U.S. Bank and to deposit the insurance check into the account. She then caused the third party to transfer $1.5 million to another account at U.S. Bank in the name of her son, ALKON VOROTINOV. Between March 29, 2012 and January 2015, more than $1.5 million of the life insurance proceeds were transferred to accounts located in Switzerland and Moldova.

According to documents filed in court, on November 27, 2013, ALKON was stopped by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in Detroit, Michigan upon returning from a trip to Moldova. A computer seized by CBP agents contained digital photographs of IGOR VOROTINOV taken on April 19, 2013 and on May 12, 2013, in which IGOR is alive.

On May 16, 2016, IRINA VOROTINOV pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud and one count of engaging in a monetary transaction in criminally derived property. On November 15, 2016, IRINA VOROTINOV was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison, by Judge Patrick J. Schlitz, in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis. She is currently serving her sentence.

ALKON VOROTINOV pleaded guilty on March 24, 2015, to one count of misprision of a felony. On September 27, 2016, ALKON was sentenced to three years of probation and $2,056,554.09 in restitution (to be paid jointly) by Judge Patrick J. Schlitz, in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis.

This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs handled the extradition in this matter.

Assistant U.S. Attorney David J. MacLaughlin is prosecuting the case.

Defendant Information:

Igor Vorotinov, 54

No Known Address

Charged:

• Mail Fraud, 1 count

Irina Vorotinov, 51

Plymouth, Minn.

Convicted:

• Mail Fraud, 1 count
• Engaging in a Monetary Transaction in Criminally Derived Property, 1 count

Sentenced:

• Mail Fraud, 37 months (served concurrently)
• Engaging in a Monetary Transaction in Criminally Derived Property, 37 months (served concurrently)
• 2 years each, supervised release (served concurrently)
• $2,056,554 in restitution to be paid jointly
   

Alkon Vorotinov, 28

Plymouth, Minn.

Convicted:

• Misprision of a Felony, 1 count

Sentenced:

• 2 years of probation
• $2,056,554 in restitution to be paid jointly

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United States Attorney’s Office, District of Minnesota: (612) 664-5600