Cheesecake poisoning survivor testifies against woman accused of near-fatal identity theft

On Tuesday, a Ukrainian immigrant beauty salon worker spoke of her near-death experience with a divine dessert delivered by a look-alike friend.

Olga Syvk, who testified in Russian with the help of an interpreter, recounted what was nearly her last meal after defendant Viktoria Nasyrova slipped her a slice of poisoned cheesecake, fresh from a Brooklyn bakery, in August 2016 in an attempt to steal her identity. victims.

“I couldn’t get out of bed,” said Sivk, who previously told the Daily News that the defendant also served her tainted chicken soup. “I had a terrible headache. My sister helped me to the bathroom. … At first it was very bad, but then it gradually got better.”

Emmanuel Calderon, a chemist with the Customs and Border Protection, said tests showed that a container of food found at the victim’s home contained phenazepam, a type of tranquilizer.

The suspect fled the victim’s home in Forest Hills with Sivk’s passport, employment card, gold ring and cash in a heartless identity theft scam after dropping in to get her eyelashes done, prosecutors said. Nasyrova, 49, was arrested about seven months later.

The defendant was charged with attempted murder, grand larceny, reckless endangerment, unlawful imprisonment and other charges. Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz was present in the courtroom for Sivk to testify.

At the time, prosecutors said the building’s owner found Zwick “dressed in underwear with pills scattered all over her body” to make the scene look like a suicide attempt. The defendant faces 25 years to life in prison if found guilty in this case.

The News previously reported that Nasyrova moved to New York from Russia in 2014 to hide from authorities after the alleged murder of 54-year-old Alla Aleksenko, whose charred remains were found in a grave in western Russia.

Homeland Security Special Agent Sean Quinn testified that a “red notice” was posted in the national crime database indicating that the defendant was wanted in Russia to “pend trial.”

Her visa was also due to expire just days after the assassination attempt, he said.

Sivk recalled how, after some time, she received a call from the accused of assault and asked about her condition.

“She said: “Olga, I can’t get through to you, what happened?” The witness said. “I told her I was in the hospital, I told her ‘you poisoned me and stole from me.’ She said, “Okay, then go to the police.”

In addition to being poisoned, Swick accused Nasyrova of selling all her clothes and jewelry for about $100,000.

“She wanted to kill me,” the victim told The News in 2018. “She was not sure that the poison remained in me, because I threw up.”

“It looks like a very bad movie,” she added. “Sometimes I really don’t believe this has happened to me.”