amNY: Restaurateur and friend of Eric Adams pleads not guilty to insurance fraud, alongside 2 men previously sued by GEICO
By: Isabella Gallo
After ducking a subpoena to testify in a civil insurance fraud case brought by GEICO, ex-Mayor Eric Adams’ close friend Zhan Petrosyants has been criminally charged in a money laundering scheme alongside two Adams-associated businessmen sued by the insurance giant.
Petrosyants, a restaurateur who owned high-end spots Adams frequented, was indicted on insurance fraud and money laundering counts Wednesday in the Southern District of New York.
In charging papers, prosecutors allege Petrosyants took millions from insurance programs designed to provide health care coverage for car crash victims by submitting fraudulent claims to insurers for medical services that were never provided or unnecessary, and which were billed through shell corporations controlled by his co-conspirators.
On Thursday, prosecutors filed a superseding indictment criminally charging Vladislav Stoyanovsky and Dmitriy Khavko alongside Petrosyants. Stoyanovsky and Khavko are two businessmen with close ties to ex-Adams chief of staff Frank Carone, who were sued by GEICO in 2024 for allegedly running a similar insurance fraud scheme.
Petrosyants, Stoyanovsky and Khavko are accused of funneling millions from advances into Sunstone Service and Blue Tech Supplies, which are not legitimate medical providers, prosecutors say.
That money was then transferred to a bank account held by a jewelry business based in the Diamond District of midtown Manhattan and other accounts held by the trio, according to court papers. And, prosecutors say, the defendants operated with the help of a New York law firm that is not identified in filings.
Sunstone Service and Blue Tech Supplies were named in the 2024 suit filed by GEICO against Stoyanovsky and Khavko, which alleged there were other, unnamed co-conspirators involved in an alleged insurance fraud scheme GEICO says cost them over $1 million.
GEICO accused Stoyanovsky, Khavko and co-conspirators of submitting hundreds of fraudulent no-fault insurance claims with the help of a well-known New York law firm and a funding company called Financial Vision.
As POLITICO has reported, Financial Vision, which was named as a defendant in another similar-sounding insurance fraud case in 2024, was formed in 2018 by Carone and attorney Howard Fensterman while they were partners at prominent Brooklyn firm Abrams Fensterman, according to court filings.
Petrosyants, who was frequently spotted out clubbing with the former mayor, wasn’t named as a defendant in GEICO’s 2024 suit. However, he was subpoenaed to testify, as GEICO’s lawyers believed he had information on the insurance fraud scheme, but never did, as he could not be located.
Petrosyants pleaded not guilty to all criminal charges Wednesday; Stoyanovsky and Khavko followed suit at their arraignment Thursday, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York confirmed.
Roger Stavis of Gallet Dreyer & Berkey, an attorney for Khavko, did not respond to a request for comment. There are no attorneys listed in court documents as representing Petrosyants, who pleaded guilty in a check-cashing scheme involving medical billing companies in 2014, or Stoyanovsky.
All three were released on bail. Petrosyants’ $1 million bail package, secured by a lien on a New Jersey property, includes requirements of home detention with GPS monitoring and a surrender of all travel documents, according to the Southern District spokesperson.
Khavko’s bail was set at $150,000, according to court documents. He was also required to surrender all travel documents, is banned from opening new lines of credit and is only permitted to move within the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, which encompass the five boroughs, Long Island and Westchester.
Details of Stoyanovsky’s bail package were not immediately clear.
Adams spokesperson Todd Shapiro did not respond to a request for comment.