Ukrainian-Israeli Citizen Sentenced for Multi-Million Dollar Fake Brokerage Scheme

Yaroslav Shilkloper, 50, a dual citizen of Ukraine and Israel, was sentenced today to four years in prison for his participation in a conspiracy that utilized a sophisticated phony brokerage-business to scam U.S. citizens out of millions of dollars. Shilkloper was also ordered to pay a $250,000 fine and $1.43 million in restitution to his victims. According to court documents and statements made in court, Shilkloper and his co-conspirators defrauded victims in the United States of more than $3 million dollars by promising high rates of return on investments made through their “K6 Investing,” “Neotron Holding LTD.,” and “Goldex Technology” companies. As part of the scheme, the defendant provided access to a digital platform that allowed victims to see what they believed were real-time investment performance data. The victims’ money, however, was never invested, but instead diverted and laundered through a series of bank accounts in Ukraine, Georgia, Hungary, Israel, Czech Republic, and elsewhere, all controlled by Shilkloper and his co-conspirators. When victims attempted to withdraw their money, they were prevented from doing so, threatened with legal action, or manipulated into sending more money to the fraud ring. Shilkloper is the first of three defendants charged in the case to be sentenced. He was extradited from Poland after being arrested there in 2023. Today’s U.S. forfeiture order adds to the $2.8 million already previously returned to the victims as a result of forfeiture proceedings against Shilkloper and co-conspirators in the Republic of Georgia. Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Baxter Kruger for the Southern District of Mississippi, and Acting Special Agent in Charge Matt Wright of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New Orleans Field Office made the announcement. The HSI New Orleans Field Office investigated the case. Trial Attorneys Ben Tonkin and Justin G. Bish of the Criminal Division’s Violent Crime and Racketeering Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Hunter McCreight for the Southern District of Mississippi prosecuted this case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs worked with Polish authorities to secure the arrest and extradition of Shilkloper.