BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

10/08/2006

2 Belarus Citizens Jailed in U.S. Child-Porn Trial

MosNews

Two Belarus nationals, top officers in Regpay, which prosecutors described as an international child-pornography and money-laundering enterprise, have each received 25 years in federal prison.

Judge Dennis M. Cavanaugh of the U.S. District Court in Newark, New Jersey also fined Yahor Zalatarou, 27, of Minsk, Belarus, president of Regpay Co. Ltd., and Aliaksandr Boika, 30, also of Minsk, Regpay's technical administrator, $25,000 each. Authorities have seized $1.15 million from the operation, AP reports.

The day before jury selection was to start in 2005, Zalatarou pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport and ship, by way of computer, images of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct; Boika pleaded guilty to conspiracy to advertise child pornography. Both men also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money-laundering.

Regpay ran an Internet porn business that had thousands of paid memberships to dozens of Web sites featuring children. Along with operating several Web sites, the company earned millions of dollars processing credit-card fees for more than 50 other Web sites. The Regpay sites were operated from Minsk and hosted by Internet service providers in the United States and abroad.

Source:

http://www.mosnews.com/news/2006/08/10/childporn.shtml