Eye surgeon pleads not guilty in alleged murder plot
Last Updated: Wednesday, November 18, 2009 | 5:27 PM MT
CBC News
Dr. Michael Mockovak, shown in a Seattle courtroom Wednesday, faces two counts of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. (Courtesy of KING 5 TV Seattle)A Washington state eye surgeon who co-owns laser eye clinics in Edmonton, Vancouver and Victoria pleaded not guilty Wednesday to accusations he arranged to have his business partner and former brother-in-law killed by Russian mobsters.
Michael Mockovak, 51, was arrested at his Seattle-area home last Thursday. He is charged with two counts of solicitation to commit first-degree murder.
According to court documents filed in Washington state, Mockovak targeted two men: Dr. Joseph King, with whom he founded and owned the Clearly Lasik chain, and Brad Klock, a former president of the company who lives in Vancouver.
Mockovak pleaded not guilty to both charges in a Seattle courtroom Wednesday. Bail was set at $2 million US, much lower than the $15 million King wanted to ensure Mockovak would remain in jail.
"He knows so many details about our lives that I am tremendously concerned and if he is released, he'll come to finish the job," King told the judge.
Clearly Lasik is based in the Seattle area and operates three laser surgery clinics in Canada, as well as in Oregon, Idaho and Washington state.
Ex-president 1st target: court documents
According to court documents, an employee of the company, a man of Russian descent, approached the FBI in the spring with concerns that Mockovak wanted to have Klock killed.
Clearly Lasik operates this downtown Edmonton clinic. Its co-owner is alleged to have been the target of a murder plot by his business partner. (CBC)Klock was fired as company president in late 2006 and was suing King, Mockovak and Clearly Lasik for wrongful dismissal.
In 2008, Mockovak is alleged to have asked the employee whether he knew any contacts in the Russian-American mafia who could help him "resolve his problems" with Klock's lawsuit.
The employee felt the suggestion was a joke. But Mockovak allegedly asked again in early 2009, and subsequently asked the employee questions about the Russian mob and life in Russia.
Finally, the situation progressed to the point where the man contacted the FBI with his concerns that Mockovak really wanted to have Klock killed, the court documents say.
During the summer, the FBI turned the employee into an informant to help them with the investigation.
Agents gave the informant a story to tell Mockovak — that he knew people with crime connections in California who could help him arrange a hit on Klock.
King didn't come up as a murder target until a meeting in August between Mockovak and the informant where they discussed having Klock killed, the court documents say. Mockovak is alleged to have told the man he wanted to split up Clearly Lasik in the fall and was expecting to encounter problems with King.
The allegations in the court documents have not been proven.
The informant employee came to believe that Mockovak was more interested in having King killed instead.
So, using a story provided to him by the FBI, the informant told Mockovak he had a boyhood friend living in Los Angeles with connections to a Russian-American crime organization that could kill King and make it look like a street crime.
Alleged plot would have had King killed in Australia
The two men met twice in the first week of November, allegedly to make arrangements to have King killed on a family vacation in Australia.
King could be drowned in the ocean, but the body would have to be recovered to validate a multimillion-dollar insurance policy, Mockovak said, according to the documents. The conversations were secretly recorded by the FBI.
On Nov. 7, it is alleged Mockovak gave the informant an envelope containing a photo of King and his family, a note with the family's flight information and $10,000 US in cash, all in $100 bills. The informant then turned the envelope over to the FBI.
On Nov. 12, Mockovak was arrested at his home. Investigators found photos of King and Klock, as well as the life insurance policy on King.
In a statement released Tuesday, King said he was horrified to learn he was possibly the target of a murder plot.
"My family and I were shocked and horrified to learn that a business associate was allegedly planning and ordering my murder."
The Edmonton office of Clearly Lasik was closed Wednesday. King performed surgeries there once a week.
Mockovak was recently divorced from the sister of King's wife.
