Kidnapped quitter
Pair snatched ex-helper who bailed on scam
Two Brooklyn bad guys running a driver’s license scam kidnapped a former co-conspirator in broad daylight after he dared try to bail on their scheme, prosecutors said Thursday.
Akmal Narzikulov and Sherzod Mukumov were furious at their victim for quitting his job as a driver for the men running a racket that helped people cheat on DMV tests for commercial drivers licenses, prosecutors said. The victim allegedly drove people to DMVs and gave them “devices and instructions” to facilitate cheating on the exams.
He did the job for two weeks — but made the mistake of accepting an $800 advance, then quitting before completing a full week of work, according to court papers filed in Brooklyn Federal Court.
On March 28 the victim ran into his former bosses, Narzikulov and Mukumov, on the street near his apartment in Brighton Beach. He didn’t make it inside. Surveillance images included in court papers show the victim trying in vain to hold on to a door as he’s pulled away. An alleged accomplice of Narzikulov and Mukumov, who is not named in court papers and remains at large, used a Taser-like device on the victim, making him pass out.
When the victim awoke his hands were bound and he was taken to an isolated corner in a parking garage, prosecutors said. The trio stripped the victim and Narzikulov took his green card, watch and cell phone, prosecutors charge. Narzikulov demanded $5,000, which he said would cover interest on his week’s work, along with unpaid parking tickets, court papers charge.
“Narzikulov and Mukumov set out to settle a debt by allegedly kidnapping and assaulting their victim. There’s no place in society for those who handle conflict in this way,” FBI Assistant Director-inCharge William Sweeney said. The men later drove the victim to a bank on Kings Highway, where they ordered him to open an account and write them a check in partial payment of the debt. The victim then reported the assault to authorities and is now cooperating.
Narzikulov was convicted in 2015 of running a similar driver’s license scam, authorities say.