Detroit- from www.freep.com – He managed to stay in hiding for more than five years. Now, he has two months to prepare for trial on charges that he smuggled women into the U.S. and forced them to work in metro Detroit strip clubs.
Veniamin Gonikman, the Ukrainian nightclub owner who was on the government’s most-wanted list, has been ordered to stand trial May 3 on human trafficking and forced labor charges, under an order issued today by U.S. District Court Judge Victoria Roberts. His plea cutoff date is April 11.
Gonikman, 55, was arraigned May 3 in U.S. District Court in Detroit, where he was initially indicted in 2005 before fleeing the country. According to court documents, Gonikman hid out in a Ukrainian village for years, eluding authorities by using a counterfeit Russian passport and a fictitious name. Ukrainian officials arrested him on Jan. 26 for allegedly living there illegally, records show. He then was flown to New York, where he was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
According to court records, Gonikman came to the attention of agents in Detroit in 2005, when one of his victims escaped, and agents confirmed he was operating Beauty Search Inc. in metro Detroit.
According to the indictment, Gonikman and several others, including his son, used Beauty Search as a cover for an operation that smuggled women into the U.S. The women primarily staffed Detroit strip clubs, where they allegedly were forced to work 12 hours a day and gave all their proceeds — more than $1 million — to Gonikman and his associates, court records show.
Gonikman’s associates, including his son, Aleksandr Maksimenko of Livonia, were convicted on similar charges. They are serving prison sentences ranging from seven to 14 years.
If convicted, Gonikman faces a maximum of 20 years in federal prison.
New York attorney Jeffrey Rabin, who is representing Gonikman, has said his client is “asserting his innocence, no question about that.”
Locally, Gonikman also is being represented by Walter Piszczatowski, whose clients have included musicians Eminem, Jack White and Marilyn Manson. He was unavailable for comment.