Ex-Beach cop admits role in marriage-fraud case

NORFOLK

A former Virginia Beach police officer pleaded guilty Monday to a federal conspiracy charge, admitting that he played a central role in a marriage-fraud case and then lied to his fellow officers and the FBI about it.

Andrey Savelyev, a native of Russia, resigned from the force in August just before he was indicted in U.S. District Court. He became a Beach police officer in 1999 and most recently had been a detective in the 3rd Precinct property crimes unit.

His arrest stems from an ongoing investigation into marriage fraud, mainly between Navy sailors and Eastern European women, and a Belarus-based network that appeared to be running an elaborate visa fraud operation for illegal workers.

As the investigation grew, authorities established the Russian Organized Crime Task Force. More than 100 arrests have been made here and in related cases in New York.

Savelyev admitted in court that he essentially became an enforcer in a phony marriage between a Russian woman and a Navy enlisted man after the sailor became fearful of his own arrest and tried to get a divorce.

The sailor, Nathan Wicker, tried to get out of his phony marriage after learning that seven sailors aboard the Norfolk-based carrier Eisenhower were charged in a marriage fraud conspiracy in New York. He went to the home of a friend of Savelyev and got into a fight over the divorce.

The friend, a Russian national here on an asylum visa, would later become a government informant, according to court records filed by the U.S. attorney's office. The friend, who has not been identified, then called Savelyev for help.

Savelyev admitted that he went to the sailor's house in uniform, flashed his badge and threatened the man with arrest if he did not remain in the marriage. He also admitted to the unauthorized access of the Police Department's computer to obtain the sailor's records.

The officer's actions became so brazen that he showed up in federal court for marriage-fraud cases involving suspects he knew and accessed the restricted police computer database searching for information on the informant as well as one investigator on the task force, according to a statement of facts Savelyev signed.

He also admitted in the statement to lying to his superiors and to FBI agents about his knowledge of the marriage-fraud conspiracy. In one interview in June, Savelyev denied knowing the informant or others involved in the case, but by then the agents had obtained phone records showing 192 calls between the officer and the informant.

According to the statement of facts, when Savelyev was confronted, he responded: "Now I see what you are doing.... At this point I'm not going to answer any more questions."

Savelyev, who is married and in the country legally, remains free on bond pending sentencing March 1.

He and his attorney, Mark Del Duca, declined to comment after Monday's guilty plea.

Tim McGlone, (757) 446-2343, tim.mcglone@pilotonline.com