Man, believed to be Russian, indicted for being a stowaway on a flight from Copenhagen to LAX

By Jennifer Henderson, CNN

(CNN) — A man has been indicted for being a stowaway on a flight from Copenhagen, Denmark, to LAX on November 4, according to court documents obtained by CNN.

Sergey Vladimirovich Ochigava, believed to be a Russian citizen, has been charged with being a “Stowaway on Aircraft.”

According the complaint, Ochigava arrived at the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) checkpoint at Los Angeles International Airport and “gave false and misleading information about his travel to the United States, including initially telling CBP that he left his passport on the airplane,” according to the complaint.

CBP officers were unable to find Ochigava’s name on the flight manifest for the Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) flight or any other international incoming flight, according to the complaint, which says Ochigava didn’t have a passport or visa to enter the United States.

Ochigava pleaded not guilty to the charges at his arraignment in the US District Court Central District of California on December 5, according to court documents. He is being housed in federal prison at MCD Los Angeles, according to inmate records.

A jury trial is set for December 26. CNN has reached out to Ochigava’s federal public defender but has not yet heard back.

The arrest was first reported by tech news outlet 404 Media.

Details of the case

CBP officers searched Ochigava’s bag and found a Russian ID card, an Israeli ID card and a partial photo of a passport on Ochigava’s iPhone that showed Ochigava’s personal information but had no photo, according to the complaint.

CBP tried to run the personal information on the photo of the partial passport but again found nothing in their system, the complaint states.

Thom Mrozek, director of media relations for the US Attorney’s Office in the Central District of California, said in an email to CNN, “We believe he is a Russian citizen. We have not been able to confirm any status he may have with Israel.”

According to the SAS flight crew, most of them noticed Ochigava “because he wandered around the plane and kept changing his seat. In addition, he asked for two meals during each meal service, and at one point attempted to eat the chocolate that belonged to members of the cabin crew,” according to the complaint.

The flight crew did not see Ochigava’s boarding pass but remembered him sitting in a seat that was supposed to be unoccupied, according to the complaint. While the flight crew did head counts by section to make sure the aircraft was balanced for takeoff and landing, the numbers were not tallied, the complaint states.

“We can confirm there has been a situation regarding a passenger departing from Copenhagen to US on an SAS flight. The matter is being handled by relevant authorities both in US and Denmark and we cannot comment any further,” Alexandra Lindgren Kaoukji, head of media relations for SAS, said in an email to CNN.

When interviewed by the FBI through a Russian-speaking CBP officer on November 5, Ochigava, who said he had a PhD in economics and marketing and worked in Russia as an economist “a long time ago,” said he hadn’t slept for three days, didn’t understand what was happening, wasn’t sure if he had a plane ticket to come to the United States, wasn’t sure how he got on the plane or why he was in Copenhagen, the complaint states.

Primary concern: How did this happen?

Federal authorities are working to identify any potential counterintelligence issues posed by the individual, a law enforcement source told CNN, but believe mental health concerns may have played a role in the unusual incident.

At this point, the primary concern for law enforcement is identifying how an inbound traveler to the United States was able to travel without proper documentation, the source said.

The Copenhagen Police referred CNN to Copenhagen Airport.

“We can confirm that a man was on the flight in question, even though he did not have a ticket or passport. We can see from our surveillance that he has entered without a valid ticket. Copenhagen Airport has provided photo and video material to the authorities who are investigating the case,” Lisa Agerley Kürstein, Copenhagen Airports press and communications manager, said in a statement to CNN.

“We take the matter very seriously, and it will be included in the work we continuously do to adjust and tighten our guidelines to improve security,” she added.

CNN’s Andy Rose, Eve Brennan and Josh Campbell contributed to this report.

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