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Headlines : InternationalRussia's most notorious mafia boss arrested in Moscow
The list of crimes alleged against Semyon Mogilevich is a long one. From artificially inflating the stock value of a Canadian-listed firm, to stealing the money of Russian emigrants to Israel, running massive vice rings across Europe and even producing anti-aircraft guns for the international arms trade, he has had his fingers in a lot of pies. No doubt, he has also been assisted by numerous national governments and corporations.
Mogilevich has been accused in the past of using the Bank of New York to funnel billions in ill-gotten gains from Russia to western-managed tax havens. Much of that seems to have been IMF money, a neat circular scheme to rinse struggling post-Soviet Russia of scarce currency.
Interestingly, Mogilevich has also been implicated in the international smuggling of radioactive materials. With recent revelations linking members of the U.S. establishment to this trade, the move to neutralize Mogilevich could be a Russian-American deal, which benefits the corrupt elites in both nations.
[Posted By Szamko]Republished from The Guardian
Detectives in Moscow yesterday confirmed they have arrested Russia’s most notorious mafia boss, who is wanted by both the US and British authorities for his alleged involvement in decades of major international crime.
Police swooped on Semyon Mogilevich when he emerged from a business meeting at Moscow’s World Trade Centre. They formally arrested him on Thursday, together with his business partner Vladimir Nekrasov, a millionaire Russian businessman. Mogilevich’s arrest appears to bring to an end one of the most colourful and picaresque criminal careers of modern times – involving money-laundering, trading in drugs, prostitution, smuggling uranium and stolen icons, and international banking fraud.
Posted by Szamko
Just tries to tell the truth.
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RE.: who is wanted by both the US and British authorities for his alleged involvement in decades of major international crime.
I think that might be a misprint. It should probably read :
who is allegedly wanted by both the US and British authorities for his involvement in decades of major international crime.
Have we noticed the word “swoop” showing up a lot all of a sudden?
Until he has been convicted, it’s still ‘alleged…’
More interesting stuff about old Mogilevich. Yulia Timoshenko, the Ukrainian PM, has been sounding off about his possibly owning half of the consortium that supplies gas from Russia and Central Asia to Ukraine and beyond. Gazprom owns one half and a shadowy company called RosUkrEnergo the other – and the two have cashed in since they received the contract on Russian gas owing to the brief shutdown last year, which caused the prices paid by Ukraine to rise.
An interesting interpretation of the arrest, from the U.S. far-right, as if they might have some spin on the matter:
But there is no solid proof that Mogilevich actually owns any of the pipeline.
The Russians are now also saying that the arrest was an “accident.”
From the Guardian:
There’s an interesting analysis of the arrest, accidental or not, from the Jamestown Foundation’s Eurasia Daily Monitor. This is worth quoting, remembering that the arrest coincides with the likely elevation of an ex-Gazprom CEO (Dmitry Medvedev) as new Russian PM.
According to political commentator Vitaly Portnikov: ““It needs to be understood that RosUkrEnergo is not simply an accidental private structure that suddenly became a monopolist in such an operation as the export of Central Asian gas to Ukraine.” (In 2005, RosUkrEnergo took over the sale of gas from Turkmenistan to Ukraine, a multi-billion-dollar business.) “It is in fact one of the elements in the corporatization of the gas economy in Russia. And those groups that are not in agreement with the possible monopolization of power by the groups that are now bringing Dmitry Medvedev into the presidential post are simply letting their competitors know that they still have quite a number of serious levers of influence.”
Interesting. Thanks.
Yes, good.
One minor thing: Yulia Timoshenko is a she.
Iday – Yulia was talking about Simyon. Convoluted grammar I know.