Judge: Russian national charged in money laundering, murder-for-hire plot will stay behind bars

Leonid Teyf, a Russian national with connections to the Putin administration, was in federal court on Tuesday morning for a detention appeal hearing. His attorneys wanted him released due to heath reasons.

Teyf and associates allegedly scammed more than $150 million in kickbacks on Russian government contracts, according to the charges against him.

In newly filed documents opposing Teyf’s motion for release, the attorneys for the federal government say Teyf not only tried to murder his wife's suspected lover (his housekeeper's son), but also discussed killing her.

Teyf allegedly bribed an undercover Department of Homeland Security official to try to have the young man deported, authorities said. When that took too long, he paid another federal agent to kill the man, even supplying him with an illegal gun, authorities said.

On Tuesday, the defense brought a woman to the stand who would serve as Teyf's custodian if he were to be released from jail.

She described Teyf as a "caring and loving, attentive father" for his school-age children.

Lead attorney James McLoughlin went on to list Teyf's ailments, including diabetes, an irregular heartbeat, and muscle and bone issues from an accident.

The government said that Teyf is a flight risk and said he has multiple apartments, a compound in Russia and a home in Switzerland.

Since December 2010, the Teyfs opened at least 70 financial accounts at four different banks, and wire transfers show money coming into the couple’s bank accounts from countries known to launder money, including Belize, the British Virgin Islands, Panama and the Seychelles. Investigators said the Teyfs bought hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of luxury cars and more than $2.5 million worth of art.

Teyf, his wife Tatyana, and four others are charged in the case involving murder for hire, bribery, money laundering and violation of immigration laws.

A trial date is set for April 8.