Cheesecake poisoning survivor testifies against woman blamed in near-fatal identity theft bid

A Ukrainian immigrant salon worker testified Tuesday about her near-death experience with a heavenly dessert delivered by a lookalike friend.

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

“I couldn’t get up from my bed,” said Syvk, who previously told the Daily News that she was also served tainted chicken soup by the defendant. “My head was aching terribly. My sister was helping me to the bathroom. ... At first it was very bad, but then gradually it became better.”

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

The suspect fled the victim’s Forest Hills home with Syvk’s passport, employment card, a gold ring and cash in the callous identity theft scam, prosecutors said, after dropping in to get her eyelashes done. 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 in the courtroom for part of Syvk’s testimony.

Prosecutors said at the time that the building’s landlord found Tsvyk “dressed in lingerie with pills scattered around her body” to make the scene look like a suicide attempt. The defendant faces a sentence of 25 years to life if convicted in the case.

The News previously reported Nasyrova moved to New York City in 2014 from Russia to avoid authorities after allegedly killing 54-year-old Alla Aleksenko, whose charred remains were found buried in a grave in western Russia.

Homeland Security Special Agent Sean Quinn testified there was a “red notice” posted in a national crime database indicating the defendant was wanted in Russia for “pending legal proceedings.”

Her visa was also due to expire just a few days after the attempted killing, he added.

Syvk recalled getting a phone call some time later from her accused attacker inquiring about her condition.

“She said, ‘Olga, I cannot reach you, what happened?’” the witness said. “I told her I was in the hospital, I told her that ‘you poisoned me and stole from me.’ She said, ‘Fine, then go to the police.’”

In addition to the poisoning, Svyk accused Nasyrova of selling off all her clothing and jewelry for about $100,000.

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

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