Couple who arrived in TT with bogus Israeli passports missing

A man and a woman who entered Trinidad with false Israeli passports and had been detained since June have escaped custody, a media report said on Sunday. 

They were being held at a hotel near the Piarco airport with the national airline, Caribbean Airline (CAL), paying the bill for accommodation and meals.

A report in the Sunday Guardian said the couple escaped on November 20, just days before the official announcement of a plot to assassinate Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and some senior government ministers.

The report said it is not clear if the two have fled the country or are still in hiding somewhere in Trinidad or Tobago.

The report said the two arrived on June 6 from St Maarten, carrying bogus Israeli passports. Authorities there did not take action but alerted officials in Trinidad.

Guardian photos of the missing couple

The paper said the woman has been identified as Anastasia Kurakin, 28; her companion is Robert Ochakovsky, 34. It stated that when they landed at the Piarco International Airport from St Maarten they presented themselves as husband and wife and stated that they were Israelis on their way to Canada.

They were granted entry but were arrested they next day after they tried to board CAL flight 600 to Toronto, Canada. 

The Guardian quoted an unnamed source as saying that the couple claimed to be lawyers and threatened legal action if they were prevented from boarding their flight.

The paper said according to its source they two were detained because the pictures on the passport did not match their physical appearance. The authorities handed over the two to CAL security, who detained them pending verification of their identities by the Israeli Government.

The Guardian said its source claimed that there was a security breach because it was clear that the people were not who they claimed to be.  

“We don’t know how they absconded. Knowing that they have been under watch for this length of time and are well financed it would have been easy for them to corrupt someone. That is my suspicion,” the Guardian quoted the unnamed source as saying.

The Guardian said CAL’s chairman said he was not aware of the matter, noting that it was "an Immigration issue." 

The paper said when it advised George Nicholas III that CAL's security had detained the two at the hotel and paid their bills he said: “I am not aware of that. I am not aware of the specifics. I do know that we are increasing our security." 

The paper said Nicholas promised to launch a full-scale investigation.