By Ivan Pereira
Dr. Mazoltuv Borukhova was arrested outside her apartment building Thursday night and charged with first- and second-degree murder and conspiracy in the Oct. 28 murder of her estranged husband outside the Annadale Playground on Yellowstone Boulevard and 64th Road in Forest Hills.
Prosecutors claim Borukhova hired her distant uncle Mikhail Mallayev to come to Queens from his hometown in Georgia and shoot Malakov in retaliation for his gaining custody of their 4-year-old daughter Michelle.
“Within six days of the actual transfer [of Michelle], he was murdered,” said Assistant District Attorney Brad Leventhal. “He was on the way to give the child to her at a place of her choosing.”
Leventhal said 91 phone calls were made between Borukhova and Mallayev weeks before the shooting, while only two were made after the shooting. The ADA also revealed that the suspected shooter, who was arrested in November and extradited from Georgia to Queens on Jan. 16, deposited nearly $20,000 into 10 accounts in a Brooklyn bank on Nov. 8.
Stephen Scaring, Borukhova's attorney, dismissed the indictments, saying the evidence was circumstantial.
“I didn't see any overwhelming evidence, it's all puff. We'll be looking forward to a quick trial,” he said.
Borukhova pleaded not guilty to the charges and Judge Robert Hanophy ordered her to be held without bail until the criminal trial, which has not been set for a specific date.
If convicted, both Borukhova and Mallayev could face life in prison without parole, the ADA said.
As she left the courtroom, an unemotional Borukhova, an immigrant from Uzbekistan, silently nodded to members of her family, who were sitting opposite Malakov's family in the courtroom.
“It seemed like there was a feeling of relief, but there is still a lot of bitterness in our family,” said Malakov's brother Gavriel outside the court.
See the full story in the Feb. 14 edition of the TimesLedger Newspapers.
