Jun
14
2008

Yury Salikov, one of the suspected heads of the gang AFP PHOTO/STR
Four of twenty suspected Russian mafia members arrested on Friday will remain in Spanish custody after questioning, according to the El Mundo newspaper. Sixteen others have yet to be quizzed, but Spanish law requires that they be charged within 48 hours of arrest. Continue Reading »
Jun
13
2008
Madrid – Spanish police Friday detained several people in swoops on Russian arms traffickers and money launderers, police sources said. The judge who ordered the operation had issued 25 arrest orders. The detainees included four people regarded as ring leaders, according to radio reports. Continue Reading »
Jun
12
2008
Joseph Serio’s recently released book “Investigating the Russian Mafia” (Carolina Academic Press, Durham, North Carolina, 2008) is a detailed accounting of his study and personal experience on “Russian Mafia” related issues. He notes that the term “Russian Mafia” comprises elements of several ethnic groups in Russia and the rest of the former Soviet Union. Continue Reading »
Jun
04
2008
MOSCOW — The defense attorney of businessman Sergei Shnaider, a reputed mafia boss in custody for tax evasion charges, said Wednesday he had made a request for his client to be released on bail for health reasons. Continue Reading »
Jun
03
2008

Poisoned: Former spy Alexander Litvinenko days before his death
Britain is wide open to the threat of the Russian Mafia, a leading crime expert has warned.
Squabbles between the police and MI5, the removal of the one policeman with contacts with the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs and the fallout from the Alexander Litvinenko murder have combined to leave London vulnerable to the mafia gangs, author Andrei Soldatov claims. Continue Reading »
Apr
24
2008
NEW YORK — A monumental porcelain centerpiece with gilt bronze mounts, made by the Imperial Porcelain Manufactory in St. Petersburg during the reign of Nicholas I (1825–55) — the only major lot that failed in the Russian works of art sale at Sotheby’s last week — has become the center of a legal dispute, the New York Sun reports. As reported last week by ARTINFO, the centerpiece, comprised of eight jardinières and measuring 33 by 45 inches, was estimated to bring $2–3 million, but sank at $1.6 million. Continue Reading »