Minnesota Woman Admits Faking Husband’s Death, Collecting $2M
May 16--A Twin Cities woman admitted Monday that she staged her husband's death to collect $2 million in insurance money as part of a scheme stretching into central Europe and back to a Minneapolis cemetery.
Irina Vorotinov, 49, of Minneapolis, pleaded guilty in federal court in Minneapolis to mail fraud and a related felony count for her role in the concocted death of Igor Vorotinov, who was last said to be alive in Ukraine and Moldova.
A charge of money laundering was dismissed as part of the plea agreement, which awaits approval from U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz.
The agreement acknowledges that Irina Vorotinov faces a sentence in the range of 37 to 46 months, with prosecutors agreeing not to seek more than the minimum. However, Schiltz can deviate below or above the range. The question of restitution remains unsettled.
"There is much more to this case than meets the eye," said defense attorney Matthew Forsgren, who declined to address any of the specifics in connection with the defrauding of the insurance company. "But Irina fully accepts responsibility for her conduct and awaits sentencing."
The couple's son, Alkon Vorotinov, 26, of New Hope, remains charged for his role in the alleged plot. Vorotinov, who works as a credit repair specialist, declined Monday to comment about his mother's plea agreement, which does not require her to testify against him in the event he goes to trial.
As part of the investigation into the family, ashes interred in late 2011 at a Lakewood Cemetery mausoleum as being Igor Vorotinov's were removed for examination last June. Authorities have yet to disclose the identity of the remains.
Federal investigators have contended that the family made up the story that Igor Vorotinov died in October 2011 in Moldova, a westerly neighbor to Ukraine, and that Mutual of Omaha did not have to make good on the insurance claim.
Shortly after the exhumation, Irina Vorotinov answered "of course" when asked by the Star Tribune whether those were her husband's remains in the urn.
Irina Vorotinov and Igor Vorotinov, who was 47 at the time of the death claim, were charged in federal court in February 2015, and the husband remains charged despite no further word on his fate.
Early last year, the son agreed to cooperate with federal authorities and said his father has been living in various locations in Moldova and Ukraine under the name "Nikolai Patoka," a search warrant application read.
According to the case against the Vorotinovs, Igor bought a life insurance policy in April 2010 and listed his wife and son as beneficiaries.
In October 2011, police in Moldova were alerted to a body in the bushes at the entrance to the village of Cojusna. A passport, hotel cards and phone numbers identified the man as Igor Vorotinov.
Irina Vorotinov traveled to Moldova, went to a morgue with a U.S. Embassy official and identified the body as Igor's. At her request, the body was cremated about 130 miles east of the village, in Odessa, Ukraine. She returned to Minnesota with the ashes, held a funeral on Nov. 4, 2011, at the mausoleum and filed a death claim on the insurance policy, authorities said.
Mutual of Omaha sent a $2 million check to Irina Vorotinov, who was living in Maple Grove at the time, and it was deposited in a bank account. Court documents say the son knew at the time that his father's death had been a hoax. Between March 29, 2012, and January 2015, mother and son transferred more than $1.5 million of insurance proceeds to accounts in Switzerland and Moldova.
A tipster in Moldova told an FBI agent in June 2013 that Igor Vorotinov had staged his death and was living in Ukraine under a new identity, authorities said.
In November 2013, customs agents stopped Alkon Vorotinov in Detroit as he returned from Moldova, and digital photos on his computer dated April and May of 2013 showed his father "very much alive" more than 1 1/2 years after his supposed death, a court filing read.
___
(c)2016 the Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
Visit the Star Tribune (Minneapolis) at www.startribune.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Life Insurance News