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National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Office of Inspector General
Washington, DC 20546

June 19, 2003

RELEASE 2003-040: CALIFORNIA MAN SENTENCED FOR FRAUD SCHEMES  

On June 3, 2003, Aleksandr Drabkin appeared in Federal District Court
in Los Angeles, California and was sentenced for his participation in 
multiple schemes to defraud interstate companies located in
California, New Jersey, Colorado, and Massachusetts.  After pleading
guilty to Conspiracy and Mail Fraud, Drabkin was sentenced to a
prison term of 33 months, to be followed by a supervised release
period of 3 years.

From April 2000 to December 2000, Drabkin and others participated in 
schemes to defraud companies engaged in the manufacturing of precious 
metal products.  Drabkin impersonated employees of NASA and DOD 
contractors to fraudulently take delivery of the precious metals.

Special Agents of the NASA Office of Inspector General, the Defense 
Criminal Investigative Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigations, 
and Detectives of the Pasadena and Bell Police Departments in 
California conducted this investigation.  Assistant United States 
Attorneys Daniel A. Saunders, Central District of California, Los 
Angeles, and Jean Kempthorne, District of Massachusetts, Boston, 
handled the prosecution.
 
For more information on this release, please call Joe Kroener, Acting 
Executive Officer, NASA Office of Inspector General at
(202) 358-2558.

Previous Releases: 
2002-035, 01/08/02, Remaining Three Suspects Arrested and Indicted
for Involvement in Nationwide Fraud Schemes.
2001-023, 01/05/01, 4 Individuals Arrested for Mail Fraud and Wire
Fraud 2001-097, 09/17/01, California Man Pleads Guilty to Mail Fraud

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Report Crime, Fraud, Waste, Abuse, and Mismanagement to the NASA OIG
Hotline at:  800-424-9183, TDD 800-535-8134.

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