KINGS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY CHARLES J. HYNES ANNOUNCES INDICTMENT IN TWO 1992 MURDERS LINKED TO RUSSIAN ORGANIZED CRIME

TWO HOODS INDICTED FOLLOWING JOINT INVESTIGATION BY THE INVESTIGATIONS DIVISION OF THE KINGS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE, THE OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY FOR THE EASTERN & SOUTHERN DISTRICTS OF NEW YORK, THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION, AND THE NEW YORK CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT

Brooklyn, April 12, 2006 – Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes today announced the indictment of two individuals for their participation in two murders committed a month apart in 1992. Vitaly Ivanitsky, 32, and Marat Krivoi, 36, who in 1992 were members of a crew of young violent Russian criminals murdered Boris Roitman, 21, on August 26, 1992, and Thien Diep, 24, between September 23 and September 26, 1992, the indictment charges.

“The indictment of Krivoi and Ivanitsky for these 14-year-old murders should remind all criminals that they can never be sure that the long arm of the law won’t grab them when they least expect it,” said District Attorney Hynes. “I hope that our efforts to bring justice in these murders gives some small measure of closure the Roitman and Diep families. I would like to commend the FBI, NYPD, the prosecutors from our Investigative Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for their cooperative efforts in solving these two horrific cold cases.”

“This investigation is a terrific example of law enforcement joining forces to ensure that those responsible for the most violent of crimes are held accountable,” said Mark J. Mershon, Assistant Director-In-Charge of the FBI’s New York Office. “I’m proud of the FBI agents and NYPD detectives who built this case, and I’m appreciative of the Brooklyn prosecutors who are bringing this case to justice.”

"These indictments prove that a case is never too cold for investigators to thaw. Congratulations to the detectives and agents for an outstanding job," said Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly.

The indictment charges both Ivanistky and Krivoi with Murder in the Second Degree for intentionally killing Roitman. The indictment also charges each defendant with Murder in the Second Degree for killing Diep in the course of a robbery. If convicted, they face a maximum of 50 years to life in prison.

The investigation revealed that in 1992, Krivoi headed a crew of young Russian criminals ranging from their late teens to early twenties that preyed upon the growing population of immigrants from the former Soviet Union that settled in Brighton Beach, Manhattan Beach and Sheepshead Bay. The crew specialized in protection rackets, extortion, robbery, and burglary. The investigation revealed that Ivanitsky, Krivoi, and other members of the crew sought to garner the attention and respect of Boris Nayfeld and other more senior Russian criminals who ran their own “brigades” in Brooklyn at that time, in an effort to become members of Nayfeld’s brigade. At the time of the murders, Krivoi was married to Nayfeld’s daughter, Allyssa. Roitman also committed crimes with Krivoi’s crew.

Roitman was found dead from shotgun wounds to his chest and neck on a secluded walkway between the tennis courts of the Brooklyn Racket Club and an apartment building at 556 Shell Road, Brooklyn. The investigation revealed that Roitman was killed on orders from Krivoi because Krivoi feared that Roitman was a police informant. Other accomplices have not been apprehended.

Diep, a high-stakes pool player, played regularly at the Playboy Pool Hall near the corner of Avenue N and Coney Island Avenue. The investigation revealed that on September 23, 1992, after a night of playing pool at the Playboy, Diep was forced at gunpoint into his own car by Krivoi and Ivanitsky and their accomplices, who wanted to rob Diep. He was shot in the head and killed during the course of the robbery. After the robbery, Krivoi, Ivanitsky and their accomplices drove to a vacant lot near Seaview Park in Brooklyn and burned Deip’s car with his body inside. Three days later, children riding their bicycles found his badly burned body slumped on the rear seat of his car.

Special Agents Jeff Koch and Mario Pisano of the FBI-NYPD Eurasian Organized Crime Task Force led the investigation.

The case is being prosecuted by Executive Assistant District Attorney Christopher Blank and Bureau Chief John Holmes of the Investigative Division. Michael Vecchione is Chief of the Investigative Division.

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Contact: Jonah Bruno

718-250-2300