The Strange Ties between Semion Mogilevich and Vladimir Putin

On March 23, 2009 the Moscow City Court ruled that Semion Mogilevich, also known as Sergiy Shneider, will remain in prison until May 23 while investigators continue to examine his case. (Kommersant Daily, March 24). This is the third extension of his detention the court has ordered since Mogilevich was arrested on January 23, 2008 and charged with abetting in a tax evasion scheme. What makes this case highly sensitive is that Mogilevich has been suspected of having close links to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and the opaque gas trade between Gazprom and Ukraine and RosUkrEnergo.

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SEMYON MOGILEVICH’S ARREST – A BLOW TO MEDVEDEV, OR A FAVOR?

Last week’s arrest in Moscow of Semyon Mogilevich was a surprise not because he was so elusive, but because he had apparently been living unmolested in the Russian capital for some time (even, reportedly, maintaining an office in the Ukraina Hotel). The Ukrainian-born reputed organized crime boss is wanted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for alleged fraud and racketeering and has been probed by Ukraine’s security service for alleged involvement with RosUkrEnergo, the shadowy Swiss-registered gas trading company that is half-owned by Gazprom and acts as a middleman in Russian gas exports to Ukraine. The question, then, is why Mogilevich was arrested now. According to some leading analysts, the answer may be found in the power struggle between influential Kremlin clans that has been sparked by the impending end of Vladimir Putin’s presidency and his decision to back First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev as his successor.

Read full article here: http://www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=33330

Moscow police nab suspected Israeli-Russian mafia boss

Moscow police are questioning Israeli-Russian businessman and suspected mafia kingpin Semion Mogilevich, who is wanted around the world for alleged tax evasion, money-laundering, prostitution and uranium smuggling.

Israeli citizen Mogilevich is considered to be the "leader of the Red Mafia," one of the biggest Russian-based organized crime groups in the world.

Mogilevich is wanted by the FBI, among others, and was arrested late Wednesday night, along with his bodyguard, in a supermarket in Moscow, where police waited next to his luxury car. He was detained under the name Sergei Schneider, believed to be one of his many aliases.

Read full article here: http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/948510.html

Semyon Mogilevich, the 'East European mafia boss', captured in Moscow

One of the world’s most feared mafia bosses accused of arms dealing, drug running, uranium trafficking and multiple murders has been captured by around 50 police commandos in Moscow.

The pock-marked Semyon Mogilevich, known as the “Brainy Don” because of his economics degree, has reportedly ruled a powerful Eastern European organised crime ring since the 1990s.

He is thought to be worth around $100 million. He is wanted by the FBI, Interpol and the UK police for numerous international crimes including fraud, racketeering and money laundering.

Read full article here: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article3253243.ece

DENYING BONY LAUNDERING INVOLVEMENT, MOGILEVICH SAYS HE'S JUST A WHEAT TRADER.

Semen Mogilevich, the reputed Russian organized crime boss who allegedly laundered money through the Bank of New York (BONY), has given an interview to a leading Russian weekly. In it, he claims that he has been connected to the scandal only because one of his firms, coincidentally, has the word "Benex" in its name. Benex is the name of one of the companies set by Peter Berlin, who, along with his wife, former BONY employee Lucy Edwards, pleaded guilty in New York last week to money laundering and lesser charges (Moskovskie novosti, February 22). Investigators believe that nearly US$7 billion from Russia passed through Benex and other fund-transfer companies set up and operated by Berlin and Edwards into BONY. The couple, who are both Russian emigres, have apparently copped a plea and are cooperating with the U.S. authorities. According to a report this week, an organized crime group allegedly headed by Mogilevich and based in Budapest used the Edwards-Berlin channel to launder at least US$500 million (Newsweek, February 28).

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Suspect in Russian Money Laundering Is Denying Any Crime

One of the leading figures in an investigation into a possible global money laundering scheme denied today that he was involved in criminal activity.

Semyon Yukovich Mogilevich told the newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets that Western investigators had no evidence against him. He said they were simply exploiting fears of Russian organized crime to expand their budgets.

''All accusations of 'laundering,' controlling the drug trade, prostitution and contract murders is nothing but the raving of the F.B.I., which is trying to obtain more money from Congress to fight the 'Russian mafia,' '' Mr. Mogilevich said.

Read full article here: http://www.nytimes.com/1999/08/29/world/suspect-in-russian-money-laundering-is-denying-any-crime.html?scp=49&sq=russian%20mafia&st=cse

The Most Dangerous Mobster in the World

In two posh villas outside the small town of Ricany, near Prague, one of the most dreaded mob families in the world savagely murders its terrified victims. The mob's young enforcers, trained by veterans of the Afghanistan war, are infamous for their extreme brutality. Their quarry, usually businessmen who have balked at extortion demands, are repeatedly stabbed and tortured, then mutilated before they are butchered. The carnage is so hideous that it has scared the daylights out of competing crime groups in the area.

Read full article here: http://www.villagevoice.com/1998-05-26/news/the-most-dangerous-mobster-in-the-world/1