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Jacob Bogatin, who was charged last week with felony murder and setting fire to an occupied dwelling, in connection to the death of a Sterling, Virginia, woman, has had another serious crime hanging over his head for decades — one in which his co-defendant has been identified as a powerful Russian organized crime boss. Bogatin, 78, was arrested last week and charged in the death of 36-year-old Madelaine Samantha Akers, a neighbor of Bogatin’s. According to the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office, Bogatin set fire to a townhome in the 20000 block of Riptide Square, in the Lowes Island neighborhood, on Oct. 24. By the time first responders arrived, the fire had spread to a second home and damaged a third. Charging documents said the day after the fire, Bogatin filed an insurance claim for more than double of what is owed on the recently foreclosed-upon home. Bogatin was arrested on Oct. 28 and remains in custody. He’s scheduled for a preliminary hearing in Loudoun County District Court on Jan. 27, 2026. What happened more than 20 years ago According to federal court records, in 2002, Bogatin and three other men were indicted in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on charges of mail fraud, money laundering, false filings with the Securities Exchange Commission, as well as Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization conspiracy counts, which are often used in organized crime prosecutions. The case in Pennsylvania never went to trial because Bogatin’s three co-defendants fled and have been declared fugitives to this day. One co-defendant, Semion Mogilevich, has been identified by the U.S. Department of State as “a transnational organized crime boss operating from Russia,” and other countries. “In 1995, the Russian Ministry of the Interior identified Mogilevich as the boss of more than 300 criminal associates operating in more than thirty countries in Europe, Asia, and North America,” federal prosecutors said. According to an online wanted poster, starting in 2022, a $5 million reward has been offered for information leading to Mogilevich’s arrest and/or conviction. A superseding indictment in Pennsylvania said the group had formed a company, YBM Magnex International, which claimed to produce industrial magnets at its plant in Budapest, selling to the U.S. and other countries. However, the business was allegedly a front. At the time, federal prosecutors said the group “created fraudulent books and records that were designed to conceal YBM’s fraudulent operations from securities regulators, auditors, and the investing public.” The group is also charged with “generating false bank statements, invoices, customer lists, and shipping documentation,” as well as “funneling proceeds from the sale of YBM stock to closely-related parties and entities to create the false appearance of commercial transactions, on YBM’s books and records.” What happened in the past few days Since his three co-defendants in the 2002 indictment are fugitives, Bogatin has never gone on trial for his alleged involvement in the YBM Magnex case. In 2003, Bogatin was released on $1 million bond. Over the next few years, conditions of home confinement and electronic monitoring were reduced. It’s not immediately clear when Bogatin moved to Loudoun County. According to a filing from last week, on Oct. 31, requesting that a judge order a bail violation hearing, Keri Foster, a federal pretrial services officer in Philadelphia, described that Bogatin checked in, as usual, on Oct. 28. According to Foster: He reported his residence in Virginia had burned down on Friday, October 24, 2025. He reported two other residences in his neighborhood had been destroyed in the fire. During the conversation, this officer searched online for information on the fire and located a news article that confirmed the information the defendant had provided and further informed that human remains had been located in one of the residences. Foster said the next day, Loudoun County Supervisory Pretrial Officer TJ Wheeler contacted her, “to advise that the defendant is being investigated for arson and felony murder,” and that he had been arrested that day. Contacted by WTOP Tuesday, Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Thomas Julia said “We are aware of the federal interest in him and are continuing our local investigation and where it may take us.” Julia wouldn’t discuss whether Bogatin was on the LCSO radar before last week’s interaction. Bogatin’s attorney in the Philadelphia indictment, Eric Sitarchuck, declined to comment when contacted by WTOP. Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here. © 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
