By Ivan Pereira
Mazoltuv Borukhova is already gearing up for her criminal trial in the murder of Dr. Daniel Malakov, her estranged husband, in a Forest Hills playground, but now she and her alleged accomplice may have to prepare for a separate battle in civil court.
Gavril Malakov, Daniel’s younger brother, filed a wrongful death suit in October against Borukhova and her uncle, Mikhail Mallayev, who have been charged in the shooting death of the Forest Hills dentist. Malakov is seeking monetary damages as a result of the alleged murder plot on behalf of the dentist’s young daughter, according to court documents said.
Borukhova, 35, and Mallayev, 50, are awaiting trial on first−degree murder and conspiracy counts in the Oct. 28, 2007 killing.
Florence Fass, Borukhova’s family law attorney, brought up the lawsuit during a Dec. 10 hearing in Queens Family Court and told the judge that the suit was an example of why Gavril Malakov was unfit to be the foster guardian of her client’s 5−year−old daughter, Michelle.
“For a foster parent to sue a mother in the name of her own daughter is just plain stupid,” Fass said outside the courtroom.
Gavril Malakov, 34, who like the Borukhova and her family is a Bukarian Jewish immigrant from Uzbekistan was not at the Family Court hearing and could not be reached for comment. His attorney, Arkady Frekhtman, did not return repeated phone calls to discuss the case. Family Court Judge Linda Tally dismissed Fass’s arguments, saying Gavril had the legal right to file the suit.
“This court is really concerned about the well−being of the child, not your client. The child will not be a pawn,” she told Fass.
New York state court regulations require plaintiffs to file wrongful death lawsuits within two years of the person’s death.
Gavril’s suit, filed in State Supreme Court Oct. 15, alleges Borukhova “asked, demanded andâ„or hired” Mallayev to kill Daniel Malakov. The court papers contend Mallayev “intentionally, recklessly andâ„or carelessly” caused Malakov’s death. The suit seeks unspecified monetary damages for “conscious pain and suffering” that Michelle and Gavril Malakov have had to deal with since the murder and for fees relating to funeral, burial and estate taxes, according to court documents.
Daniel Malakov, 34, was shot twice in the chest outside the Annadale Playground as he was dropping off Michelle to visit her mother. Borukhova had lost custody of the girl less than a week before the shooting following a long, bitter custody dispute.
Malakov’s family immediately blamed Borukhova and her family for committing the murder and an investigation proved their suspicions. Mallayev, Borukhova’s distant uncle, was arrested three weeks after the murder after police matched his fingerprints to prints found on a makeshift silencer abandoned at the playground by the shooter.
Borukhova was arrested in February and charged with first−degree murder and conspiracy along with her relative. Their criminal case is scheduled to begin Jan. 26 in Queens Supreme Court.
If convicted, both face up to life in prison without parole.
Reach reporter Ivan Pereira by e−mail at ipereira@timesledger.com or by phone at 718−229−0300, Ext. 146.
