Two Brooklyn Men Arrested for Kidnapping

Defendants Tasered and Abducted Their Victim on a Brooklyn Street in Broad Daylight

A complaint was unsealed today in federal court in Brooklyn charging Akmal Narzikulov and Sherzod Mukumov with kidnapping.  Narzikulov and Mukumov were arrested this morning, and are scheduled to make their initial appearances this afternoon before United States Magistrate Judge Vera M. Scanlon.

Richard P. Donoghue, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and William F. Sweeney, Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), announced the charges.

“As alleged, seeking to collect a debt, Narzikulov and Mukumov, kidnapped the victim off the street in Brooklyn and forced him to open a bank account and give them money,” stated United States Attorney Donoghue.  “Now, this Office and our FBI partners will ensure that these defendants pay their debt to society.”

 “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. Because of their alleged conduct, they will now face serious consequences,” stated FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Sweeney.

The charged abduction was motivated by an attempt to recover a debt purportedly owed to Narzikulov by the victim.  On the morning of March 28, 2019, Narzikulov and Mukumov, along with a third co-defendant who has not been apprehended, assaulted the victim outside an apartment building in Brooklyn.  While the victim was clinging to the front door of the building, he felt multiple shocks that were administered from a device that the third individual was holding and lost consciousness.    

The victim regained consciousness inside a vehicle with his hands bound.  The defendants took the victim to the deserted area of a parking garage where they stripped off his clothes, and took his telephone and other personal items.  The defendants later drove the victim to a bank where they forced him to open an account and write them a check in partial payment of the debt.  The victim was released later that day, but Narzikulov kept the victim’s phone, driver’s license, green card and bank card.

The charges in the complaint are allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

If convicted of all counts, Narzikulov and Mukumov face a maximum of life imprisonment.  

The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Public Integrity Section.  Assistant United States Attorneys Michael H. Warren and Virginia Nguyen are in charge of the prosecution.

The Defendants:

AKMAL NARZIKULOV

Age:  34

Brooklyn, New York

SHERZOD MUKUMOV

Age:  26

Brooklyn, New York

E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 19-MJ-358