Business associate in Russian money-laundering case, wife appear in Raleigh federal court

Prosecutors say Alexey Timofeef helped Leonid Teyf set up and run a complex money laundering network based from Teyf's home in Raleigh. Teyf, a Russian national with connections to the Putin administration, and associates allegedly scammed more than $150 million in kickbacks on Russian government contracts.

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Investigators say Timofeef and his wife, Olesya Timofeeva, were also involved in illegal immigration.

The set-up started to crumble last year when the son of the Teyfs' housekeeper allegedly had an affair with Teyf's wife, Tatyana.

Leonid Teyf wanted to see the young man dead, and he bribed an undercover Department of Homeland Security official to try to have the son deported, authorities said. When that took too long, he paid another federal agent to kill the son, even supplying him with an illegal gun, authorities said.

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Since December 2010, the Teyfs opened at least 70 financial accounts at four different banks, and wire transfers show money coming into the couple’s bank accounts from countries known to launder money, including Belize, the British Virgin Islands, Panama and the Seychelles. Investigators said the Teyfs bought hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of luxury cars and more than $2.5 million worth of art.

Timofeef and Timofeeva now live in Illinois with their 10-year-old son. They were arrested there last month but traveled to Raleigh for Monday's court hearing.

Timofeef faces eight fraud and money laundering charges and could spend the rest of his life in federal prison. He and his wife are also charged with immigration fraud.

The couple had the help of an interpreter as they heard the charges against them, and they remain free on bond pending trial March 12 in New Bern. They declined to comment as they left the courthouse.