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2024-03-28T17:00:14Z
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The boss his son – Profile of Gambino Mafia family associate Joseph Gambino
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/the-boss-his-son-profile-of-gambino-mafia-family-associate-joseph
2020-05-17T11:50:21.000Z
2020-05-17T11:50:21.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
https://gangstersinc.org/members/GangstersInc
<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-boss-his-son-profile-of-gambino-mafia-family-associate-joseph" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237140660,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237140660?profile=original" /></a>By David Amoruso for <a href="http://www.gangstersinc.org" target="_blank">Gangsters Inc.</a></p>
<p>As far as Mafia bosses go, Carlo Gambino is one of the most legendary. His name remains notorious as it is still branded on one of New York’s five La Cosa Nostra families. Being the son of such a man, then, came with the inevitable perks. And some drawbacks as well. As his son Joseph found out.</p>
<p>Joseph Gambino grew up differently than his old man. He studied at New York University and had a bright future ahead of him if he kept his mind focused. But why study when he could be out making great money working in a business controlled by his <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/gambino-boss-carlo-gambino" target="_blank">dad</a>?</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>“We don’t call the police”</strong></span></p>
<p>So, by the 1950s, he started working for Consolidated Carriers Corp., a trucking company that went on to become a powerhouse in the Garment District delivering goods. It would make Joseph and his older brother Thomas, who was a capo in the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/gambino-crime-family-overview" target="_blank">Gambino family</a>, rich men. But it also made them a target for law enforcement.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-guys-that-do-more-than-killing-gambino-mafia-family-mobsters" target="_blank">The Guys That Do More Than Killing</a>: Gambino Mafia family mobsters busted for large variety of crimes</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>The State Police sent in undercover officers posing as clothing manufacturers and truckers in a sting operation to see how legitimate this business really was. During one job interview, an undercover officer was told by Joseph what would happen if he wronged the company: “We don’t call the police — we take care of it ourselves.”</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Mob tax</strong></span></p>
<p>Besides Consolidated Carriers, the Gambinos ran over a dozen other trucking companies, including Clothing Carriers, Greenberg's Express and GRG Delivery. New York City garment producers were pressured to take deliveries from a trucking company that was either controlled by the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/gambino-crime-family-overview" target="_blank">Gambino</a> or the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-lucchese-crime-family" target="_blank">Lucchese family</a>. Otherwise they were forced to pay twice. This amounted to a mob tax which added as much as 7 percent to the price of finished garments.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/murder-on-the-dancefloor-the-demise-of-gambino-mafia-family-soldi" target="_blank">Murder on the Dancefloor</a>: The demise of Gambino Mafia family soldier Anthony Mascuzzio</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>In October 1990, the investigation was wrapped up and resulted in the indictment of Joseph and his brother Thomas along with several others on a hefty list of racketeering charges. The two Gambino brothers faced up to 25 years behind bars.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:14pt;"><strong>Crime pays… millions</strong></span></p>
<p>After several weeks of trial, on February 26, 1992, Joseph and Thomas made a very lenient plea deal. They pleaded guilty to antitrust charges and were told by prosecutors that if they paid a multi-million-dollar fine and promised to leave the garment district they would not be sentenced to time in prison.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ: <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/philly-underboss-crazy-phil-leonetti-talks-about-hanging-out-with" target="_blank">Philly underboss “Crazy Phil” Leonetti talks</a> about hanging out with Meyer Lansky, calls Merlino a “lowlife”</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>Joseph and Thomas forked over $12 million dollars and simply walked away from the business. They had to sell all their delivery companies and all of their 400 trucks to individuals with no connections to organized crime before March of 1993. Their $12 million dollar fine could be paid in stages and had to be paid in full by September 1995.</p>
<p>There was some criticism over the deal, of course. Joseph and Thomas Gambino had made a killing while they held the Garment District in a chokehold. “Prosecutors conceded that in addition to leaving the Gambinos free men, it would leave them with a considerable portion of their estimated $70 million to $100 million fortune,” the New York Times reported at the time.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>READ:</strong> <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/interview-john-gotti-jr-sits-down-with-gangsters-inc" target="_blank"><strong>INTERVIEW: John Gotti Jr. sits down with Gangsters Inc.</strong></a></li>
</ul>
<p>Who said crime doesn’t pay?</p>
<p>Joseph Gambino lived out the remainder of his life in freedom and away from the mob. The Gambino family was now under firm control of the Gotti clan and had moved on from the days of the Gambinos. Joseph Gambino passed away in March of 2020 at age 83.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Back to the <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/gambino-crime-family-overview">Gambino crime family section</a> on Gangsters Inc.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Check out the latest news on organized crime and the Mafia at our <a href="https://gangstersinc.ning.com/blog/list/tag/news">news section</a></strong></li>
<li><strong>Check out our <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/gangsters-inc-on-social-media">social media channels</a></strong></li>
<li><strong><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/about-gangsters-inc">About Gangsters Inc.</a></strong></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Copyright © Gangsters Inc.</strong></p>
<p> </p></div>
Profile: Gambino crime family soldier Carmine Agnello
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/gambino-soldier-carmine-agnello-busted-in-cleveland
2015-07-16T19:36:40.000Z
2015-07-16T19:36:40.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
https://gangstersinc.org/members/GangstersInc
<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/gambino-soldier-carmine-agnello-busted-in-cleveland"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237038864,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237038864?profile=original" width="520" /></a>By David Amoruso</p>
<p>Gambino mobster Carmine Agnello (photo above) was charged with running a multi-million dollar scam at his Cleveland scrapyard, yesterday. Authorities accused Agnello of theft, money laundering, conspiracy, and injecting race horses with banned substances.</p>
<p>Along with the New York mobster eleven others were implicated in the Cleveland crime ring. The arrests brought an end to an 18-month sting named “Operation Goodfella.” During several morning raids police seized two weapons, $45,000 in cash, heavy machinery, and video equipment.</p>
<p>As the name suggests, Agnello was the main target of the operation. As a made member of New York’s <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/gambino-crime-family-overview">Gambino crime family</a> and ex-husband of Victoria Gotti - daughter of mob boss John Gotti Senior - “goodfella” Agnello has had a bull’s eye on his back throughout his criminal career. A change in scenery didn’t fix that.</p>
<p>Agents arrested Agnello early Wednesday morning at his scrapyard <em>Eagle Used Auto Parts</em> on East 116th Street near Harvard Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio. News outlet <a href="http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2015/07/former_gambino_crime_family_me.html" target="_blank">Cleveland.com</a> reports that after Agnello “was released from federal prison in 2008, he married a woman from the Cleveland area and moved to a secluded and wealthy Cuyahoga County neighborhood near Bentleyville.”</p>
<p><a href="http://www.facebook.com/GangstersInc" target="_blank"><img class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237038689,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237038689?profile=original" width="350" /></a>Before coming to Cleveland, Agnello (left) had spent seven years in prison for crimes he committed in New York. During those days he was still married to Victoria Gotti and was alleged to be a big earner part of - then brother-in-law - <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/gambino-boss-john-junior-gotti">John Gotti Junior</a>’s crew.</p>
<p>Despite marrying into the Gotti clan, Agnello did not earn Gotti Senior’s respect. During recorded prison visits Gotti can be seen and heard lamenting and ridiculing his son-in-law. “He's gonna get indicted any day, this moron. He's built himself a gallows. He's bought the noose,” Gotti said when Victoria and his brother Pete came to visit him in prison.</p>
<p>Sitting behind prison glass the Dapper Don showed he still had his street smarts about him after authorities proved him right when they did indeed arrest his “moron” son-in-law and hit him with racketeering and extortion charges. Even back then, in 2000, Agnello’s crimes were directly linked to a successful scrap metal business. A year later, he pleaded guilty and agreed to pay around $11 million in fines, restitution, and back taxes.</p>
<p>If prison wasn’t enough, his father-in-law was not done yet. “He's an imbecile. And you gotta see the charges. Malicious mopery. Possession of brains with intent to use. Malicious mopery. Malicious mopery. Stolen bumper. Hubcab,” Gotti said, pretending to read from Agnello's criminal record.</p>
<p>He even poked fun at Agnello’s bipolar disorder known as manic depression, asking Victoria, “So what's the story with Carmine?”</p>
<p>“What do you mean, what's the story with him?” she replied.</p>
<p>“Is he feeling good? Is he not feeling good? Is his medication increased? Decreased? Is it up? Down? Does he get in the backseat of the car and think someone has stolen the steering wheel?”</p>
<p>In 2002 Carmine and Victoria filed for divorce.</p>
<p>Though <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/gambino-boss-john-gotti-sr">John Gotti Sr.</a> had no respect or love for Agnello, Victoria remains supportive of her ex-husband during his latest trouble with the law, telling the <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/reputed-mobster-carmine-agnello-arrested-cleveland-article-1.2293069?cid=bitly" target="_blank">New York Daily News</a>, “All I will say is he’s the father of my children, and we will be here to help him if needed. This deeply saddens me. At the same time, I do not believe it. He was too successful to be a part of what authorities are claiming.”</p>
<p><a href="http://www.facebook.com/GangstersInc" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237039279,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237039279?profile=original" width="300" /></a>Police, however, seem quite sure of their case. They allege that Agnello was paying neighborhood teenagers to steal cars and bring them back to his business (right). There, Agnello would crush the cars and, allegedly, fill them with dirt to illegally weigh them down. He would then take the cars to a scrap metal processing facility, where authorities claim he bribed employees to ignore the sand-filled vehicles.</p>
<p>Between 2014 and his arrest Agnello made about $3 million from the illegal racket, police say. Of course, they only started counting the moment their sting operation began. Agnello could’ve made millions more.</p>
<p>Whether or not Agnello sent a percentage of his ill-gotten gains back “home” to New York remains unknown. Police in Cleveland have yet to announce any proof of such a link.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Back to the <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/gambino-crime-family-overview">Gambino crime family section</a> on Gangsters Inc.</strong></li>
<li><strong>Check out the latest news on organized crime and the Mafia at our <a href="https://gangstersinc.ning.com/blog/list/tag/news">news section</a></strong></li>
<li><strong>Check out our <a href="https://gangstersinc.org/blog/gangsters-inc-on-social-media">social media channels</a></strong></li>
<li><strong><a href="https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/about-gangsters-inc">About Gangsters Inc.</a></strong></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Copyright © Gangsters Inc.</strong></p>
<p> </p></div>
A New Dawn For the Russian Mafia
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/a-new-dawn-for-the-russian-mafia
2015-06-29T06:56:29.000Z
2015-06-29T06:56:29.000Z
Gary K. Busch
https://gangstersinc.org/members/GaryKBusch
<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/a-new-dawn-for-the-russian-mafia"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237031276,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237031276?profile=original" width="520" /></a>By Dr. Gary K. Busch</p>
<p>One of the most interesting aspects of the current Russian problem with sanctions imposed by the West is the rejuvenation of the <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/russian-mafia-overview">Russian Mafia</a> and its role in Russian commerce. Just as the rise of the post-Yeltsin Chekists into positions of great power in Russian industry, administration, finance and banking as ‘siloviki’ the gradual re-Sovietisation of the Russian economy has led to a marked recrudescence of the Mafia as a concomitant source of economic power.</p>
<p>When Putin has acted to put ever greater portions of the Russian economy, especially the oil, gas, energy, armaments and metals, back into majority state control under the care of his siloviki friends and colleagues he has recreated the worst elements of the status quo ante; that which prevailed before the great wash of privatization which swept into Russia under Yeltsin and his Western reformer consultants. The rearrangement of the power structure has also recreated the need for the Mafia.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.facebook.com/GangstersInc" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237031859,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237031859?profile=original" width="220" /></a>When Putin complains that the end of the Soviet Union was a disaster for Russia there is a great deal of truth in his statement. The dismemberment of the former USSR into its several constituent parts left the warm-water ports of the Baltic largely in the hands of the newly independent states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The warm-water Black Sea ports were largely incorporated into the new Ukraine, Georgia and Azerbaijan. The capacity of the remaining Russian ports after the breakup of the Soviet Union was about 187 million tons per year or a reduction of about 58% of the USSR's former capacity. This reduction in its port facilities meant that, even at then current volumes of trade, Russian ports could handle only 54% of this trade. The balance of Russian trade (46%) had to travel to and through other countries. These shipments via foreign ports cost Russia dearly as this trade took place in hard currency; at 1992 rates these transfer payments amounted to about $2.3 billion per year and, in terms of a rapidly declining rouble, made up a geometrically-escalating cost for Russian commerce.</p>
<p>The loss of access to Russia of its former ports was qualitative as well as quantitative. The loss of the Baltic ports meant that Russia lost modern transshipment complexes it had built for potassium salt (8.8 million tons per year); petroleum products (39 million tons per year); chemical wet cargoes and compressed gas (1.3 million tons per year); grains and pulses (5 million tons per year); perishable goods (0.5 million tons per year); as well as a key train ferry reloading facility for Germany (5.3 million tons per year). The main grain port and grain silo area in Novo Tallinn, only operational in 1986, with over 370,000 ton grain storage space was lost. The major Soviet oil export terminal at Ventspils was lost as was the modern container port at Riga. In the south, Russia lost port facilities for handling black oil and light petroleum products (1.7 million tons per year); chemical wet cargoes and condensed gas (3.6 million tons per year); urea (1.5 million tons per year; grains (9 million tons per year) as well as six major grain elevators in the port, especially at Odessa, the major grain port. Special port handling complexes for ore and coal reloading were lost (10 million tons per year) and a train ferry for handling cargo to Bulgaria (4.8 million tons per year). The last loss was compounded by the fact that its loss denied Russia direct access to the newly-opened international trade channel of the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal.</p>
<p>Western Russia has only shallow depth, highly congested ports with little capital infrastructure to handle the bulk of its trade. With the end of the Soviet Union Russia had only one port grain elevator and one import complex for raw sugar; at Novorossisk. The sugar facility had a capacity of 0.8 million tons a year although Russia urgently required an import of sugar of about 4 million tons a year at current levels of consumption. On the Azov Sea there was only the shallow water port of Taganrog; and on the Caspian Sea only Makhachkala with a maximum of 7.0 million tons per year capacity. Over 60% of Russian ports were shallow depth ports incapable of handling modern vessels. Northern ports are frozen for large periods of the year and are kept open only by expensive nuclear-powered ice-breakers. Western insurance companies couldn’t agree to approve regular trade to these ports like Archangelsk or Murmansk. Also, in many ports like Makhachkala, Poti, Baku and others, there were civil wars and ethnic strife where rail lines had to pass through such troublesome areas as Chechnya, 'Free Georgia', etc. where the security of goods in transit could not be guaranteed.</p>
<p>The Soviet system was faced with the climatic challenges of Siberia as well. One of the most difficult aspects of developing the Siberian region was the skewed pattern of distribution developed over the last seventy years of Moscow rule. The Soviet system was one in which planning played a very important part. This had both positive as well as negative effects. On the positive side, the Soviet system sourced and delivered regular supplies of food, clothing, fuel, hot water and heat to remote areas of the nation. The ability of the Soviet system to keep up the supply of food stuffs, hot water and fuel to even its most remote areas was a remarkable achievement. This achievement enabled factories to continue producing goods for the larger Soviet market and delivered raw materials for this productive base from incredible distances.</p>
<p>This was coupled with a policy of deterring internal mobility through the use of internal passports and closing off whole regions and cities to even internal immigration. The vast military-industrial complex of Russia was largely buried in the center of Siberia; from Tomsk to Khabarovosk and concentrated in major industrial towns like Krasnoyarsk, Bratsk, Novosibirsk, Bernaul and Omsk.</p>
<p>Another aspect of this distribution system was the use of massive state trading companies to make the purchase and sale of goods to and from Russia. A giant trading company like Razno (Raznoimport and Raznoexport) handled the purchase of the total requirements of whole industries; e.g. the aluminum industry and the sale of the products produced by this industry. So, Razno would arrange the import of bauxite from Africa, petroleum coke and other carbon products from Europe; soda ash from the Middle East, etc. and would arrange the sale of the finished aluminum to internal Russian customers as well as overseas. This type of mass buying and selling by giant state enterprises was the rule throughout the whole of the Soviet economy. This was facilitated by the use of a central bank clearance system in which internal accounts were calculated in rouble credit and debits across an industry, a ministry, or a state trading organization. The accounts were all paid into and out of the "center". There they were allocated by the “Gosplan” planning committees as part of a "plan" for the needs of the industries and matched by establishing quotas for production. External payments in hard currencies and hard currency sales were conducted by the central banking system without regard or reward to the importer, exporter or producer. As long as the "center" existed and functioned this planning model creaked on.</p>
<p>The system stressed mutual dependency as much as it stressed efficiency. This system broke down in an effort to establish "perestroika". The first people to lose their jobs were the planners at “Gosplan”. The Yeltsin victory and the introduction of Gaidar's and later Chernomyrdin's reforms sought to decentralize the control of the CIS and later the Russian economy. This was a positive step towards establishing a market economy but a dreadful wrench for the existing manufacturing sector. Because all purchases and sales were made through the "center" there was no aggregation of capital which belonged to any factory or ministry or trading company. There had been no "profits" so there were no accrued earnings. Productive enterprises owed goods to the system and requisitioned materials from the system. There were no real cash transactions among the enterprises nor was there an accounting system which measured who owed whom, for how long or why it owed it. The introduction of reforms made life terribly difficult for state enterprises and trading companies. In Soviet industry there were high levels of production reported but these were a facade (the Russians use the term ‘pokazuka’ for this type of charade).</p>
<p>The introduction of the “shares for cash” privatization provided for the introduction of young men, groomed for their tasks by the KGB and political leaders like Silayev, Kabulatov and Soskavets, to take over many corporations and set themselves up as ‘oligarchs’. These new oligarchs had limited political power and, when <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-dark-knight-of-mother">Putin</a> took office, he instantly moved to control the political powers of the oligarchs by appointing Chekists to their boards and began a program of increasing state ownership of these companies. The oligarchs soon learned that they could keep their money but should not dabble in politics. Most agreed.</p>
<p>During this same period another group of ‘biznizmen’ were forming international ties. In the early years of the Yeltsin government organized crime began to establish itself as an important economic player in Russian business. There is a great deal of misunderstanding in the analyses of the development of organized crime in Russia because the analysts do not differentiate between ordinary crime and international financial manipulation. Every country in the world has organized criminals and has done since time immemorial. The traditional businesses of these criminals are the protection rackets, gambling, labor racketeering, prostitution, stealing, money lending and drugs. These are non-intellectual businesses and require more brawn than brains. The criminals may take over some businesses or control them, but their aim is shaking-down money not achieving the possibilities inherent in the company’s business plan.</p>
<p>These criminals are very rarely political people or political actors. To a large extent they are anti-communist because communist states have generally frowned on criminal activity conducted by non-communists. This is why it was so useful to the Allies to use the deported anti-communist mafia leadership in Italy, Vito Genovese and Charlie Lucky Luciano, to prepare for the Allied invasion of Italy in the Second World War. Mussolini had declared war on the Mafia so the Mafia declared war back by joining the Allies. Organized criminal gangs played an important role in the Cold War as well. The Allies used anti-communist gangsters from the Union Corse (Pierre Ferri-Pisani in particular) and some of the French mafia to attack the communist unions who sought to stop the entrance of Marshall Plan aid to Europe. These same Union Corse leaders were later used against the Viet Cong in Indochina, a process which helped create the initial drug routes from the Shan states in addition to fighting communism.</p>
<p>While most governments are capable of generating and pursuing their own corruption without the necessity of partnering with organized crime, sometimes the governments act in such a way as to foster an immense amount of activity in the criminal world. This was true in both the US and Russia when the state introduced Prohibition. In the US the prohibition of the legal sale of alcohol created a giant smuggling and bootlegging industry that put millions into the coffers of organized crime. In Russia, Gorbachev launched the anti-alcohol campaign in 1985 by closing down most liquor stores and limiting per person vodka consumption to two bottles a month. As in the US the campaign turned out to be a failure, creating huge bootleg liquor industry and pouring money into the “obshak” (mob treasury) of the various criminal organizations.</p>
<p>The financial rewards from the responses to prohibition had a more far-reaching consequence. In both cases organized crime was faced with having to deal with cash mountains from the illegal sale of alcohol. In Russia it was worse. The banning of alcohol took place at the same time as quantities of opium and heroin were arriving in Russia from the failing Afghan War. The Russian organized criminal fraternity had the revenues from bootleg alcohol as well as its substitute, heroin. They were unprepared to deal with such a large cash flow.</p>
<p>In the early 1990s the Russian state collapsed. Many of the former vory had maintained their organizations intact and were doing their usual crimes across Russia. But this sudden opportunity of prohibition and heroin attracted a new group of younger, less traditional criminals into ‘the life’. They were aided by the fact that the traditional vory concerned themselves primarily with crime and didn’t see the opportunity of turning their newly acquired cash into political power. Perhaps the best example of this rise to power was <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/russian-boss-sergei-mikhailov">Sergei Anatoliavic Mikhailov</a> (‘Mihas’). In 1984 Mihas was sent to the Gulag for a short spell. He learned many skills there and made useful contacts. On his return to Moscow he, and some colleagues, set up their own criminal family. He named it after the zone in which he operated and the gang became known as the Solsnetskaya Organization. In the beginning Mihas concentrated on the normal criminal activities: extortion, counterfeiting, drug trafficking and blackmail. The existing criminal organizations fought the Soslsnetsvo gang for turf, but Mihas’ people won and their gang expanded. He could now expand into more lucrative businesses like arms dealing, money laundering and drugs. He walked free from an arrest in 1989 when the witness disappeared. In Russia, as in parts of Latin America, the verb “to disappear” is a transitive verb; it is grammatical to say “I’ll disappear you”.</p>
<p>With the collapse of the Soviet system and the rise of Yeltsin new horizons beckoned for the new group of criminals like Mihas. Crises are opportunities to the criminal fraternities. These young criminal groups took advantage of the confusion and moved to join up allies in the political establishment left without a power base. Using these political connections they soon owned banks, casinos, car dealerships, hotels, restaurants and real estate. Mihas even acquired control of Vnukovo Airport.</p>
<p>Mihas was not alone in setting up a powerful ‘krysha’ which blended criminal activity with political power. Another successful leader was the late Anton “Antoha” Malevsky who was the head of the Izmailovo group until his unfortunate parachute dive in which his chute didn’t open). The most successful entrepreneur was Semion Yudkovich Mogilevich, the Russian equivalent of Meyer Lansky. While vory like Antoha and Mihas headed their own gangs Mogilevich turned his skills to the financial opportunities which were opening. In 1994 he took control of Inkombank; one of Russia’s biggest new banks. He used cash of his own and cash of others to invest in a wide range of legal businesses (especially in the gas industry) and the worldwide spread of criminal enterprises. He was the banker for the Russian mobs. Grigory Luchansky was the Bugsy Siegel of Russia, using his company, Nordex, to open up new frontiers across the globe for Russian criminal activity. The Chekists in the government joined up with the criminal fraternity to smuggle goods, money and financial instruments into the world market, avoiding state activity.</p>
<p>With the beginnings of privatization the increased levels of regional autonomy grew. The governors had their own budgets which were gleaned by imposing local taxes and duties, instituting a wide range of taxes and fees for government services which they often made up on the spot. The police and criminals established a good symbiotic working relationship in which the protection racket thrived and the cash sales of vodka and cigarettes saw a piece of each transaction find its way into the regional and municipal coffers. The government agencies sold licenses and permits and the criminals shook everyone down and sold everything na leva (outside the normal channels). Moscow had no money to pay the regions nor harbored any great intention to do so. Traditionally, Moscow took; it didn’t pay.</p>
<p>The most obvious aspect of the monetarization of blat was the concomitant development of “kryshas” (‘roofs’) which served to provide a parallel economic and legal structure to the post-Soviet system which had suffered a stunted growth. For Russian businessmen there was no security that contracts could be enforced; no way in which supplies or materials could be guaranteed; no security measure that would allow finished goods to reach the customer. There was no guarantee that the cash reserves which were building in the banks could be secured. The police and security services were unreliable and expensive.</p>
<p>One characteristic of the development of kryshas in Russia was the simultaneous development of “Red” kryshas. These Red kryshas were policemen, spetznaz soldiers, and other uniformed guardians of the public peace who the state organizations rented out to businessmen to act as their ‘protectors’. This was a lucrative business but not too remunerative to the people with ’boots on the floor’. The big money for the Red kryshas most often went to their officers and the politicians. Sometimes one Red krysha ended up fighting with another Red krysha. It was not a well-run endeavor. There were several more successful ’security firms’ set up by the Red kryshas. Many were tied in directly with the governor’s or mayor’s office (for example in Chelyabinsk and Vladivostok).</p>
<p>As a result of the privatizations the new Russian companies suddenly found that they had plants and offices across the wide expanse of Russia. While the leadership was primarily Muscovites the facilities were spread all over the country. The new Russian capitalists suddenly had to deal with internal Russian industrial problems. As these budding oligarchs took over factories, refineries and smelters across the ten time zones of Russia they soon realized that they had very little management control of their scattered operations. Taking over the shares and ownership of a company, especially one which was moving from a state-owned structure to a private structure left, at best, a management vacuum at the factory, refinery or smelter. The ownership of these new assets required installing an effective management structure among them to make them work and which could establish a working relationship with the regional and municipal authorities. This would be a management structure that would have to deal with resource allocations, finances, transport and ‘human relations’. None of these new enterprises were ready or staffed for this.</p>
<p>In many areas there was an immediate conflict with the former managers of the plants. Local mayors resisted change; governors fought against the changes in traditional practices; and the labor force was unprepared to face a distant management in Moscow or St. Petersburg whom they didn’t know or trust.</p>
<p>However, there were local organizations who were organized, in place, and who would be of immediate use to these new oligarchs. These were the groups of organized criminals who controlled the on-the-scene structures and who had worked out a symbiotic pact with the local politicians. These smaller gangs, after a flurry of violence and conflict, were quickly incorporated into national criminal enterprises and an initial dividing of the turf took place in key sectors. The Solnestvo Gang led by ‘Mihas’ moved quickly to take over the oil and gas industries. The Ismailovo, under Malefsky, took over the aluminum industry. The Uralmash fought its rivals in a bloody battle for the Urals copper industry. This was mirrored in every region, factory, port and rail center across Russia. There was no way for these oligarchs to manage the vast and uncoordinated sprawl of Russian industry on their own and the Russian government was of no use at all. Despite the active investigations by the Prosecutor’s office and an extensive monitoring plan run through Interpol, the criminal authorities were unable to have much of an effect on policing this.</p>
<p>The takeover of Yukos by Khordokovsky was initially of particular interest to the security agencies. Just as the gas industry was linked to Itera and <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/russian-boss-semion-mogilevich">Semyon Mogilevich</a>, Yukos was believed to be closely linked to the Solnestvo Gang. The Prosecutor’s office investigated several ‘leaks’ from their ‘stukachi’ that there was a “special relationship” between Khodorkovsky, his Yukos Oil concern and the Solnestvo Organization of Moscow. One of the attractions was that these new private enterprises provided a giant international money laundry for the criminals. They had reported that <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/russian-boss-sergei-mikhailov">Sergei Mikhailov</a> (‘Mihas’) had invested large sums of his money into Yukos Oil projects. One such project was identified by the source as Mikhailov and the Solnestvo Organization’s financing of the adaptation by Yukos Oil of new drilling technology from Canada. This activity began in early 2000. One of the individuals who was reportedly involved in this activity was Aleksandr Sedov, a.k.a. “Moskovsky,” a central Moscow “brigade leader” of the Solntsevskaya Organization. It was thoroughly in Mikhailov’s interest to be a “partner” in the development of foreign technology such as the Canadian drilling equipment. By investing his and his criminal organization’s funds in the Yukos Oil project, Mikhailov, in effect, “laundered” vast sums of money into the legitimate operations of a major Russian petroleum company. The coordinator of this relationship was said to be Arnold Arnoldovich Tamm.</p>
<p>Equally as important the internal oil refining structure was structured to allow participation by local kryshas. Yukos Oil did not have distributors or “intermediaries.” Instead, it had its own personnel serving as the company’s representatives in marketing its products. Yukos Oil had a rather large structure consisting of between twenty and fifty refineries located throughout the Russian Federation. Petroleum was pumped into each of these refineries or processing facilities, or “MPZs,” and at these refineries the material was turned into residual oil, gasoline and diesel fuel.</p>
<p>In Yukos, as in other big petroleum companies in Russia, each MPZ facility was controlled by a particular criminal group. According to the investigators, the control exercised at the MPZ by the various criminal groups provided discipline out of chaos. The communities surrounding each MPZ saw the facility as a source of money in a country where such resources were otherwise scarce. The criminal organization, therefore, was able to impose a sense of order by prioritizing who could get access to this large source of funding and its products. The controlling criminal group got exclusivity to provide services to each MPZ, including such areas as distribution of products and protection from extortionate demands. In return, the major oil companies, such as Yukos, got “control” over the anarchy, particularly in the more remote areas of the Russian Federation.</p>
<p>At that time, the three largest Yukos MPZ facilities in Russia and their controlling organizations were Kemerovo, Omsk and Uha. Kemerovo and Omsk were controlled by the Kemerovo, a Russian criminal organization, which was headed by an individual identified as “Kostya Schram” (a.k.a “Kostya the Scarface”). “Kostya Schram” was further described as a close associate of Solntsevskaya Organization leader Sergei Anatolyevich Mikhailov. A different branch of the Solntsevskaya group controlled Uha, in Bashkortistan. As part of Yukos’ and other companies’ arrangements with the criminal structure at each MPZ, the organized crime leaders controlling the facility had the option and the right to set up “independent deals” for large-scale clients. The expansion of organized crime into the oil, gas and metals industries was an important element of their stability and the culmination of several years of attempts at symbiotic relationships.</p>
<p>As the years have passed this role of organized criminal enterprises as the middle management providers has been institutionalized across Russia. These criminal enterprises do not interfere with the macro-economic decision making of the company. They maintain order and discipline. They have been institutionalized.</p>
<p>Now, with the imposition of sanctions by the West the criminal enterprises are coming into their own. Just as it used to be the job of the “tolkach” (the company representative who negotiated ‘deals’ for the company) the criminal enterprises are busy arranging for supplies of materials to the plants and their transport to the market. They are managing scarcity. There is nothing in the sanctions which impeded them and their international contacts are growing ever more important in arranging the supply of needed goods to the factories. This has reached its high point in the dealings with the Ukraine. The smuggling of goods and weapons into the Ukraine has been facilitated by the Russian Mafia and their counterparts in the Ukraine. There is a lot of money to be made in scarcity and the Russian government has found the Mafia a valuable partner in its relations with “Novorossiya”.</p>
<p>Indeed this is a new dawn for the Russian and Ukrainian Mafias. It’s just like deja vu all over again.</p>
<p><strong><span style="text-decoration:underline;">Note</span>: For a more detailed analysis of the development of post-Soviet Russia see “<span style="text-decoration:underline;">Free For All: The Post-Soviet Transition of Russia</span>”. Gary K. Busch, Virtualbookworm Publishing (May 31, 2010)</strong></p>
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Chinese Organised Crime And Africa
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/chinese-organised-crime-and-africa
2014-07-30T09:01:12.000Z
2014-07-30T09:01:12.000Z
Gary K. Busch
https://gangstersinc.org/members/GaryKBusch
<div><p align="center"><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/chinese-organised-crime-and-africa"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237033058,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237033058?profile=original" width="425" /></a>Chinese Organised Crime And Africa</p>
<p align="center">The Globalisation Of The Chinese Triads and Gangs</p>
<p align="center"><strong>Dr. Gary K. Busch</strong></p>
<p>There is a very important dimension to the Chinese interaction with Africa which is often overlooked; the interaction of Chinese organised criminal structures with African states and their symbiotic relationship with the forces of the Chinese state and the military-industrial combines. Chinese organised criminal entities operate in virtually every African state, especially where there is a sea coast and a mining/extractive industry The Chinese are not the exclusive organised criminal structures in Africa but they have some unique niche markets. Chinese gangs control the export of wildlife-protected abalone (‘perlemoen’) which is a delicacy and an aphrodisiac in the internal Chinese market. The Chinese gangs are the major buyers and traders in illegal ivory, sharks’ fins and rhino tusks for the same market. They are major buyers of illegally-mined gold and diamonds through ‘artisanal miners’ whom they control and also through suborned miners working in legal mines.</p>
<p>Markets like abalone may seem small but, in South Africa alone, the Chinese annually take over 525 tons at an average street value of US $75 per kilo. That is almost US $40 million a year. What makes it far more worrying is that the payment to local suppliers of this abalone is made in deliveries of ‘tik’ (methamphetamine); a highly addictive crystallised form of ‘speed’. These are sold throughout the African townships, along with ‘mandrax’ (methaqualone). While the Chinese have the virtual monopoly on ’tik’ they must compete with Pakistanis and Indians in the mandrax business, Africa is a fertile ground for promoting drug addiction. The West Indian “Yardies” and the Nigerian ‘clans’ dominate the West and Central African heroin markets. The Colombians have a lock on the cocaine business across Africa and onwards through Africa to Europe. In Southern and Eastern Africa the Chinese have direct line to the Golden Triangle factories of the Mekong and control the heroin and morphine base business. The Italian Mafia families use the cash resources generated by all this business as a giant money laundry for their illicit wealth. All of these groups are active in the lottery. casino and shylocking businesses as well as in prostitution which inevitably accompanies drug addiction. However it is mainly the Chinese who are active in the illegal smuggling of their citizens abroad where they work as virtual slaves to the Snake Head trafficker who brought them.</p>
<p>These Chinese criminals aren’t private sector entrepreneurs seeking to earn a quick, if dishonest, buck. They are part of ancient and well organised criminal groups with a fierce internal discipline. There are two distinct types of Chinese organised criminal gangs. The most ancient and well-established are the Triads. Their origins stretch back to the fight against the Qing Dynasty in the 1760s when the Han Chinese fought against the reigning Manchus. They developed a set of rituals and practices top preserve their anonymity and to bind each member to the society; a lot like the Freemasons. They set up a triangle of power which reflected the Heavens, the Earth and Man. Things were explained as variations on the triangular theme. However, power was vertical as in a pyramid;. “the Shan Chu (Mountain Master) was the overall leader responsible for making the final decision on all matters. The Fu Shan Chu (Deputy Mountain Master), when appointed, was the deputy leader and directly assisted the leader. The Heung Chu (Incense Master) was responsible for all ceremonies of initiation and promotion. The Sin Fung (Vanguard) was responsible for recruitment, and organising and assisting in ceremonies. The Hung Kwan (Red Pole) was the ‘fighter’ rank of the society. The Pak Tsz Sin (White Paper Fan) was responsible for the general administration of the society. The Cho Hai (Straw Sandal) was the liaison officer for the society. The ‘49 Chai’ was the ordinary member usually recruited to follow a particular office-bearer.”<a title="" href="#_edn1">[i]</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Triads also use numeric codes to distinguish between ranks and positions within the gang. For example, "426" refers to "fighter" while "49" denotes a rank-and-file member. "489" refers to the "mountain master" while 438 is used for the "deputy mountain master", 415 for "white paper fan" and 432 for the "straw sandal". "25" refers to an undercover law enforcement agent or spy from another triad, and has become popularly used in Hong Kong as a slang for "traitor".<a title="" href="#_edn2">[ii]</a></p>
<p>These triads (as well as local city-wide gangs) flourished across China. However, they were not immune from the conflicts and struggles which changed China’s political structure. The triads functioned well under Chiang Kai-shek and the Kuomintang (KMT) and supported Chiang in his battle with the Chinese communists after 1945. Indeed, it was Chiang’s alliance with Shanghai’s notorious Green Gang which helped finance the KMT. The Green Gang controlled organised crime in Shanghai and, under Du Yuesheng, specialised in opium (which was supported by local warlords), gambling, and prostitution. Shanghai was the vice capital of the world at that time. “The Green Gang was often hired to break up union meetings and labour strikes, and was also involved in the Chinese Civil War. Carrying the name of the Society for Common Progress, it was responsible for the White Terror massacre of approximately 5,000 pro-Communist strikers in the City of Shanghai in April 1927, which was ordered by Nationalist leader General Chiang Kai-Shek, who granted Du Yuesheng the rank of General in the Nationalist army as a reward for conducting the massacre.”<a title="" href="#_edn3">[iii]</a></p>
<p>When the KMT was driven south by the communists, many fled to Taiwan. Others were trapped in South China. Among them was the 997th Brigade of the KMT which settled in northern Burma. There they promoted the production of opium and began its export to the rest of the world, including the use of US aircraft sent in to deliver supplies to the 997th and with nothing to take back. This became a thriving business. Throughout the 1960s, 1970s and into the 1980s, notable warlords with fuzzy motivations arose in the Shan State. It was often unclear whether they were ethno-nationalists or communists, drug lords, cronies of Rangoon, or a combination of these. The most predominant such leaders were: General Li of the KMT (commanding groups in Burma from Thailand), Li Hsing Ho of the Rangoon-supported “home guard,” also known as the Ka Kwe Ye (KKY), Kyi Myint (Zhang Zhiming) of the CBP, and the infamous Khun Sa of the Shan United Army (SUA).<a title="" href="#_edn4">[iv]</a> The refining of this morphine base was undertaken by the Union Corse (the Corsican Mafia) operating in French Indo-China as ‘anti-communist’ allies of the French Colonial Government up until Dien Bien Phu. When the French and the Corsicans were driven out of Indo-China the drug business reverted to the triads and gangs who had stayed loyal to the KMT and who had taken up residence in Taiwan, along with local nationalist Burmese and Vietnamese. For a long time the drug business was dominated by the Taiwanese gangs (United Bamboo, Four Seas, Hung Mun , Hip Shing, Hop Shing, On Leong, Three Mountains, Tsung Tsin, Ying Ong, Suey Sing). However, by 1954 power had passed from Taiwan to the relocated Triads on Hong Kong (including the KMT drug trade). This was largely because the KMT Government in Taipei was becoming increasingly concerned with the rise of Communist China and its attempts to impose a “One China” policy, especially in the UN.</p>
<p>This development in the conflict between the Chinese was one of the most important developments in the history of African politics. In the immediate post-war construction of the United Nations there was a provision for the Big Five nations to take a special seat at the UN Security Council. These Great Powers had a veto. They included the US, the UK, France, Russia and China. The Chinese place was taken by the Republic of China (the KMT state). Mainland, or Communist China, was denied a seat because it was filled by the ROC. By around 1954 the Peoples Republic of China (PRC)under Mao Tse Tung, decided it wanted to oust the ROC in the UN Security Council Under the sponsorship of the PRC the nations formed themselves into the ‘Non-Aligned’ Movement; a pressure group to get the other Great Powers not to veto the accession of the PRC to the UN. This was the scene every year for horse-trading. Each nation bartered its vote on China for aid, trade, concessions or just plain cash. Africa was particularly good at selling its vote. August or every year was the auction season, before the opening of the General Assembly in September, to barter for things they thought their country needed. It was a mutually-satisfactory ritual.</p>
<p>As it happens I was attending the American Negro Leadership Conference on Africa in February 1967 as a delegate from the United Auto Workers and as a Board Member of the African-American Committee. At that time the US aircraft carrier, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, was returning from Vietnam and pulled into Simons Town, South Africa for some repair/refuelling. The conference was indignant... They were upset that black U.S. servicemen would be subject to the indignities of <u>apartheid</u> if they visited South Africa. They formed a delegation to go to the Pentagon to complain. We were met by the Admiral in charge. I made my little speech about sending the wrong message to the world and of the risk of U.S. servicemen being victimised because of the colour of their skin. I asked how this visit would be seen in the rest of Africa. The Admiral looked me up and down, took note of his distinguished visitors and said”Listen kid. Those bastards have already had the vote on Red China this year. We don’t need them anymore. They need us; so screw them” That is what I reported to the meeting when I returned.</p>
<p>The Admiral was right. With the admission of Red China to the United Nations in 1971, no one needed Africa any more. Africa went on the back burner. The US passed the Korry Report which limited US activities to nine African nations. The Russians did the same, concentrating on six countries. The Chinese, who had had some success in Burundi threw its lot in with the black Rhodesians of ZANU in Mozambique, after being forced out of Angola and Congo-Brazzaville. The rest of Africa was left to the depredations of the French and the Portuguese. It took a lot of oil discoveries before Africa appeared on Western radar again.</p>
<p>In the mid-1950s the triads established themselves permanently in Hong Kong. There were several smaller triad organisations but they were overshadowed by the big four groups: the Chiu-Chow/Hoklo Group (including subgroups Sun Yee On, Fuk Yee Hing, King Yee, Yee Kwan and Tai Ho Choi); the 14-K Group (including subgroups Hau, Tak, Ngai, Yee, 14K Tai, Huen, Baai Lo Wo and Lee Kwan); the House of Wo (including subgroups Wo Shing Wo, Wo Hop To, Wo On Lok, Wo Shing Tong, Wo Yee Tong, Wo Shing Yee; and the Luen Group (including subgroups Luen Ying Sh'e, Luen Lok Tong, Luen Fei Ying, Luen To Ying).<a title="" href="#_edn5">[v]</a></p>
<p>These four groups, and two of the larger Tongs from Taiwan, spread across the globe. They became involved in illegal immigration in North America and Europe; drugs and prostitution in Europe and Africa; and shylocking and extortion from overseas Chinese everywhere. Most importantly, as Red China began to expand its influence and operations around the globe, the Chinese triads were ready, willing and able to assist. They had ways of bringing people in to work on Chinese installations like railroads or ports. They could access cheap gold and cheap resources. That made them very attractive to the Chinese military companies spreading their wings across Africa’s resources.</p>
<p>This also made them valuable to the two major Chinese intelligence centres. There are several intelligence agencies in China. The official, government run intelligence agency is the Ministry of State Security (MSS) ‘Guojia Anquan Bu’ [Guoanbu]. The MSS is primarily created to perform economic espionage. The MSS' methods for economic espionage follow three models. The first is the recruitment of agents, especially scholars and scientists, in the PRC before they are sent abroad to purchase information. The second model uses Chinese firms to purchase overseas companies which own or have access to the desired technology. The third method is the direct purchase of technology through Chinese front companies. This third model was the most commonly used. The ability of the triads to extort money and extract information from the local communities made their efforts very valuable to the Guanbu.</p>
<p>The main thrust of Chinese intelligence is contained within the structure of the General Staff of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). The intelligence agencies inside the Army are directly tied to the military-industrial corporations. These corporations at=re the economic backbone of China’s overseas investments.</p>
<p>After Mao's death in 1976, the new leadership encouraged the military plants to begin exploring civilian uses for their products and to engage in the broader liberalizing economy. The most nimble managers were free to exploit new markets for their goods. During the early 1980s, the PLA's share of the national budget declined, spurring it to look to other sources for cash, especially hard currency. The higher organizational levels of the PLA created trading companies like China Xinxing, China Poly and China Songhai to take advantage of the opening of China's economy to the international market.<br /> <br /> They formed banks, holding companies and international trading companies like Everbright to market these goods worldwide. Now the PLA runs farms, factories, mines, hotels, brothels, paging and telephone companies and airlines, as well as major trading companies.<br /> <br /> The number of military-run business exploded during the boom of the late 1980s. The "third line" factories opened branches in the coastal areas, earning increasingly high profits from the manufacture of civilian goods. Even the lowest levels of the PLA set up production units. In fact the PLA had a largely captive audience of Chinese who had never really had the chance to acquire personal goods produced in China before. In addition to their international arms sales, their production of consumer goods for the domestic market soared.<br /> <br /> Many of the PLA companies have become firmly enmeshed in the global economy. Hong Kong is the PLA's favoured stock exchange because of its loose disclosure guidelines. China Poly Group has two listed companies: Continental Mariner Company Ltd. and Poly Investments Holdings Ltd. Both Continental Mariner and Poly Investments have a large number of subsidiary companies in mainland China, Hong Kong and tax havens like Liberia, the British Virgin Islands and Panama. China Carrie's listed company in Hong Kong is Hongkong Macau Holdings Ltd. China Carrie also owns HMH China Investments Ltd. on the Toronto Stock Exchange and HMH Gold Mining on the Australian Stock Exchange. 999 Enterprise Group, another company controlled by the PLA General Logistics Department, operates Sanjiu Pharmaceuticals Group, the largest pharmaceuticals manufacturer in China. 999 recently announced its plan to list soon on the Hong Kong exchange.<br /> <br /> Smaller military enterprises, like the Songliao Automobile Company owned by the PLA Shenyang Military Region, have also listed in the domestic Chinese markets.<br /> China Poly Group is a commercial arm of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) General Staff Department. The PLA General Logistics Department operates China Xinxing. The PLA General Political Department owns and operates China Carrie. And the PLA Navy runs China Songhai.“</p>
<p>Military partners get the added security of knowing that the top "management" of many of the PLA companies are from the ranks of the "princelings," the children and relatives of senior Chinese Communist Party officials. These influential princelings assure that the business operations of the PLA will have the government connections that are so important in China's corrupt system. In the case of China Poly, chair Wang Jun and president He Ping act as brokers between the government and the military. Wang Jun is the eldest son of the late Vice-President Wang Zhen. He Ping is the son-in-law of the late Deng Xiaoping. Wang Jun's brother, Wang Bing, is the chair of the PLA Navy Helicopter Company. China Carrie's president is Ye Xuanning, the second son of late PLA Marshal Ye Jianying.</p>
<p>The co-operation between the triads and the Chinese military companies make it easier to disguise the political aspects of Chinese investment by masking it behind a front of intermediaries with no military connections. The triad structure allows for secrecy to prevail. The triads can, and do, make a lot of money on their own and are not financially dependent on the corporations which broaden their face in any transactions. Many of the triad ‘Dai-los’ have moved from Hong Kong to Beijing which emphasises their political clout.</p>
<p>The situation of the involvement of Chinese organised crime in Africa is becoming very serious. The world and his cousin are about to go to South Africa for the World Cup. They will be met by people engaged in many forms of organised crime. It appears that the South African police are not fully prepared for such an onslaught. Equally as important, the rise of Al-Qaida in West Africa and Central Africa is intimately involved with the drugs business and the smuggling of diamonds and gold. The expansion of the role of the triads serves to mask the expansion of Al-Qaida and the corruption of civil servants and the authorities by the triads makes it much easier for Al-Qaida to function as beneficiaries of this corruption.</p>
<p>It is hard to see a way in which Africa, and especially South Africa, can avoid serious problems in the immediate future.</p>
<div><br clear="all" /><hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ednref1">[i]</a> Peter Gastrow, <em>Triad Societies and Chinese Organised Crime in South Africa</em>, ISS No.48, 2001</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ednref2">[ii]</a>Yiu Kong Chu<em>,: The Triads as Business</em>., Routledge 2000</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ednref3">[iii]</a> Brian G. Martin<em>, The Shanghai Green Gang: Politics and Organized Crime, 1919-1937</em> </p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ednref4">[iv]</a> Andrew A. Merz, <em>Coercian, Cash Crops and Culture</em>, US Naval Academy 6/08</p>
</div>
<div>
<p><a title="" href="#_ednref5">[v]</a> HK Police</p>
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Investigating the Russian Mafia on its home turf
https://gangstersinc.org/profiles/blogs/investigating-the-russian-mafia-on-its-home-turf
2013-11-03T20:27:17.000Z
2013-11-03T20:27:17.000Z
Gangsters Inc.
https://gangstersinc.org/members/GangstersInc
<div><p><a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/investigating-the-russian-mafia-on-its-home-turf"><img class="align-center" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237035688,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237035688?profile=original" width="520" /></a>By Ronald Fino</p>
<p>The following is a report I made around 2003 regarding Russian Mafia activity. The threat from Russian organized crime (ROC) in the United States has been a major concern for some time. Most of us in the know agree that increased organized crime activity is widespread and rapidly growing. Its ability to change methods of operations creates a difficult challenge for law enforcement and society as a whole.</p>
<p>Russian organized crime is an area that is increasingly difficult and quite complicated to scrutinize. The crimes they commit after careful planning involve several Russian criminal groups, networks and include some people who are forced to support their immoral goings-on via threats. They have no limitations or boundaries and you will find Russian organized crime benefiting from just about everything.</p>
<p>I cover quite a bit of my time as an undercover agent in Russia in my book <a href="http://amzn.to/19cjPLa" target="_blank">The Triangle Exit</a>, but not enough and I had to leave the following piece of information out. Until recently, this was a confidential report and luckily I am now allowed to make it public at Gangsters Inc. Some names and places were omitted to protect people still in harm’s way.</p>
<p>Attn: Greg ________</p>
<p><a href="http://amzn.to/19cjPLa" target="_blank"><img class="align-right" src="{{#staticFileLink}}9237036074,original{{/staticFileLink}}" alt="9237036074?profile=original" width="300" /></a>While in Moscow, I (Ron Fino, photo right) was met by Igor Maistrenko, __________ who at that time was a _________for the Kremlin _________ and now is a senior FSB Agent. He is also a close associate of Putin assistant __________ and who is well connected to many <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/russian-mafia-overview">Russian Mafia</a> families there as well as in St. Petersburg, Kiev, Ukraine, Latvia, the former Soviet empire, as well as in Israel and North America. We stayed at the home of Oleg Yakuta (dealer in African precious and semi-precious gems and gold as well as counterfeit DVDs and CDs) and are a close friend of Masitrenko.</p>
<p>Yakuta arranged for us to meet 2 close friends of his who are high ranking Russian mafia leaders (Andrei (LNU) 30-35 years old, 5’11’’) (Mikhail (LNU) 38-40 years old 6’2’’) who have substantial input with the Putin administration as well as in the arms, precious gems, seafood and liquor industry. We went to the office of Rosspiritprom (Russian government organization that controls most of the production of liquor). We waited outside and Mikhail arrived escorted by two military bodyguards.</p>
<p>Igor and I were introduced to him by Yakuta and were told that Andrei would be along shortly. While waiting the two military bodyguards checked all the nearby cars as well the area. Andrei arrived with 3-4 bodyguards. After our introduction, Andrei already aware of our needs escorted us into the offices of Rosspiritprom where we were introduced to a young man (23-28) (I do not remember his name and have not been able to locate his business card, I could see that he answered to Andrei) (later I learned from Igor that he is the son of a high ranking Russian mafia member) the young man informed us that he could assist us with the vodka we were interested in and would arrange for a meeting at the __________. After about 1 hour of conversation we talked further with Andrei and Mikhail (who waited outside during the meeting) outside the building about the seafood business and Andrei informed us that he could assist us, that he owned six ships located in Magadan, Siberia and that Oleg Yakuta “is a good friend and business associate”. We were then invited to dinner.</p>
<p>Yakuta drove us to a restaurant located in the center of the city (not directly). After parking the car we were escorted by a plain closed security guard to a private area where we met up with Andrei and Mikhail and 7-9 associates. After we sat down a conversation commenced about the UAE and the needs of the Royal Family as well as their close ties in that area. One of the men possibly (<a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/russian-boss-viktor-bout">Victor Bout</a>) sitting across from Maistrenko together with a man of Muslim descent (I do not recall if they stood up thus I do not remember their size) stated to Maistrenko that the UAE Royal family was looking to move 30 billion dollars that was in U.S. Currency out of the Mitsubishi bank in Japan into Euros without the U.S. Government knowing and that they would pay 1 percent for having this done.</p>
<p>Upon hearing this I asked Igor to restate what they needed because I missed part of the communication. The Muslim man overhearing my remarks spoke in English and restated the UAE matter as well as stating that the proposal was very new and that he would have more info latter in the week. I told them that it possibly could be done. Because these people are normally quite secret about their operations, I think that they thought I was an associate of Andrei.</p>
<p>After dinner we were then invited to a private club (located off of Tverskaya near the Statue of Youri Dolgourki) that was owned by Andrei. We were met there by Mikhail and the young man from Rosspiritprom and a number of Andrei’s associates. Oleg Yakuta, the Muslim man and the guy that looked like Bout were not there and we stayed until 4:00AM and were driven back to Oleg’s apartment.</p>
<p>The next day, I talked to Igor about the meeting, about Andrei and Mikhail and if he knew their last name. He told me that he did not but that Oleg told him that Andrei was the boss of the largest Russian mafia family and that even Putin has to listen to him. He also explained that he learned that Andrei spent a number of years in France as well as help Oleg with his precious stone and gold business in Africa. Igor explained to me that Oleg wanted to know about the American marketplace for the stones and gold and if we had the means to move any for him. He further stated that Oleg was doing business with a Swiss bank but it was ending because of too many questions about the origin of the gold and gems. I told him I would look into it. He also explained that these guys (referring to Andrei, Mikhail and Oleg have more money than I could possibly imagine and that their main objective was to create legal businesses as fronts (words to that effect). He went on about how even though they all work together they all have their own legal operations and nonprofit charities.</p>
<p>Later in the day, or possibly the next, a Belarusian who worked for ___________ came to Oleg’s apartment to spend the night before he traveled home to Minsk. He had just returned from Africa and was in the precious gems business. He stated that he was aware of me and my closeness to __________ and the ___________. He stated that Tspekalo was now very high in the government and when was would I be traveling back to Minsk.</p>
<p>A few hours later, Mikhail called Igor and stated that he was going to come over to Oleg’s Apartment to chat with us. When Mikhail arrived he stated that Andrei likes us very much and can help with our endeavors. He also wanted us to meet with Vera Shevshenko, who together with her husband handles all protocol affairs for <a href="http://gangstersinc.ning.com/profiles/blogs/the-dark-knight-of-mother">Vladimir Putin</a> and his Wife Ludmillia. We eventually met with her at the Monolith Club as well as a number of Mikhail’s associates. My conversation with her was of a legal nature and her interest in helping a charity called (For the Health and Spirit of the Nation). During the meeting the Director of a Distillery that Mikhail owns located in The Ukraine sat with us and wanted to know about the liquor industry in America and that they had sent liquor to the USA (eventually Atlanta) but only small amounts. Mikhail also stated that he was going to Canada with Agriculture Minister Gordeev and while there he would also be visiting his Sister and Brother in-law Sergei Bourdin, who needs help finding a job in Montreal. He explained that his brother in-law does not desire to return to Europe and wants to stay in the Montreal area and if I could help him. I told him that I did not know many people in the Montreal area but I would look into it.</p>
<p>Later in the week, Andrei invited us to dinner at a Japanese restaurant. Surrounded by a number of bodyguards and a number of Andrei associates including a Doctor by the name of Andrey S. Peshkov (have business card) who is the Director of the All- Russian Research Institute for Nature Protection and is also with the UN Habitat Organization who provide shelter assistance to people around the world. Igor later informed me that he works for Andrei. At this meeting Igor had a private chat with Andrei.</p>
<p>When the meeting had concluded, I asked Igor if Andrei discussed the UAE deal and he responded that it did not come up but again he repeated that Andrei is looking to establish legal businesses around the world and wants to use a nonprofit organization as well. Igor stated that “we have to show them, including Mikhail, that we have the ability in the USA and Canada”. I asked Igor if he learned the last name of Andrei. If he did, he didn’t tell me. He also explained that he was a partner with Oleg and has been for some time and that these are the very people that run Russia and decide who gets appointed to government positions.</p>
<p>I brought up Wesley Michalczyk, Rafael Farid, and Vladimir Peftiev and if Andrei had any control over him. Igor said that he didn’t know if he knew him but because of Wesley’s arms business that he would have to be approved by Andrei. I stated that Wesley was with Lukashenko who doesn’t answer to Moscow. Igor went on about that most weapons sold by Wesley are made in Russia and that even Borodin has to answer to Andrei.</p>
<p>I asked him about Timofey _______ who use to work at the Russian Embassy in DC. He said no, Pavel _______, who is working with the Belarusian-Russian unity program. Igor further stated: “Ronnie, we need a nonprofit organization not only to show good faith (words to that effect) to Andrei and Mikhail but for power and for you to make money. My friend has started a nonprofit organization in the USA and he now has a lot of power here and he’s also making a lot of money. You told me that you need a source of income to carry you until the Stoli or fish business start to show a profit. This is the way. My friend gets free paint, used cars and a number of supplies in the USA and ships them here and only a small portion are given away for free, and the rest are sold. (Later I learned the name of the non-profit is called North Star which is based out of Framingham, MA. I have only 10 million left in the USA from 20 million I made and I have to find a legal avenue as well”.</p>
<p>I asked him about the money he was making with Oleg and he said “that it does not go to the USA outside of a few watches and rings I myself wear and if you can help Oleg find a way it helps me as well as you”. I responded that “Igor you told me that right now people are trying to get money out of the USA and offering 15 percent if they can.” He replied “That’s true Ronnie for some but people that live there permanently, like Suran Santurian, have to show an income otherwise the IRS will question their lifestyle.”</p>
<p>We met with Andrei again who took us to his health spa. Afterwards we went to the office of Iren Fedorov whose late husband was Svyatoslav Fedorov, a famous Russian physician who died in a plane crash and with Andrei’s help established a non-profit organization to supply medical supplies to needy children in Russia, Africa and elsewhere. She did most of the talking and discussed building a treatment center in Moscow and to fly in children from around the world for treatment. Andrei stated this was very important and if I could assist with things in the USA. Since that time I have been in e-mail contact with Iren but have not finalized a 501-c3 and I firmly believe as I did at the time that this together with the UN sponsored program of Dr. Andrey S. Peshkov are only fronts for the illegal arms and precious gems trade. There are numerous conversations besides the ones mentioned with Igor, Oleg that further bolsters this conclusion.</p>
<p>Andrei is supposed to be related via his sister or cousin to the Royal family in the UK. He has very close ties to the FSB. He has banking ties in the UK as well as in Cyprus. According to ____________, Andrei is one of the most powerful figures in Russia today. Igor told me at the October 16th 2003 meeting that Andrei used someone else with the UAE deal but that we can still gain his confidence if we show him our ability and connections. Igor also stated that Wesley has temporarily stopped arms shipments.</p>
<p>These people are very secretive and I will have to do something in order to win their confidence and I am sure that eventually _____ will appear. I may never learn of his exact home addresses in Moscow and elsewhere but I believe I can learn of the places he goes and his other connections besides the players mentioned as well as substantial information regarding the business deals of all involved I also believe that if ______ gets jammed up he will cooperate. Moscow will resist any assistance with the USA and the other countries in turning over _____ unless substantial pressure is brought to bear and then only after he is located.</p>
<p><strong><span class="font-size-4">Additional information:</span></strong></p>
<p>The most oft-used monikers for the two groups involved are The Family and the St. Petersburgers.</p>
<p><em>Siloviki and businessmen</em></p>
<p>Siloviki (hard. men), Putin's secret-service cronies, also known as the "siloviki."</p>
<p><em>Alexander Voloshin</em><br /> Voloshin, who rose to power during the era of former President Boris Yeltsin, in more recent times has served as a kind of one-man bridge between the Yeltsin-era oligarchs and the new security-service elite surrounding Vladimir Putin. Observers speculate his departure could set off a feud between the two groups that could prove severely destabilizing to the Putin government. Voloshin is said to have orchestrated the 1999 ouster of Prime Minister Yevgenii Primakov, who was unpopular with the oligarchs.</p>
<p><em>Mikhail Khodorkovsky</em><br /> Khodorkovsky's attempts to garner support from the West (as Vladimir Gusinsky tried to do before him)</p>
<p><em>Yukos</em></p>
<p><em>Anatoly Chubais</em>, a leader of the Union of Right Forces Anatoly Chubais, whose many hats include being a leader of SPS Unified Energy Systems CEO</p>
<p><em>Stanislav Belkovsky</em>, seen as one of the ideologues behind the siloviki, Colonel-General Gennady Troshev has been appointed as commander of the operational federal grouping in Chechnya</p>
<p><em>GORKY – The codename used by Ronald Fino while working in Russia.</em></p>
<p><strong>Visit Ron Fino's website at <a href="http://ronaldfino.com/" target="_blank">RonaldFino.com</a> and follow him on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/rd615333" target="_blank">@rd615333</a><br /> </strong></p>
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