Semian Mogilevich

David Cronenburg’s 2007 crime drama Eastern Promises illustrated a realistic depiction of the violent Russian criminal underground in London. John N. Gray a British political philosopher and author of the darkly pessimistic Straw Dogs opined that the gangster capitalism in Russia was the most successful on the planet. Transliterated in Russia as ‘Mafiya’ organized crime there has grown immensely and with widespread emigration in the 1990’as it has spread throughout the world.

The following guest post is from a university paper written by Matt Gossie. Matt is enrolled in a BBA program at the University of Cape Breton and the paper was prepared for his course Criminal Law: A Business perspective.

The primary subject of the paper is, a Russian mobster named Semion Mogilevich whom Robert L. Friedman, in his book Red Mafiya, calls the most dangerous gangster in the world.

Introduction:

Two luxurious villas located near the quiet town of Ricany, Prague, were used as torture chambers for what Interpol (the international police service) call the Red Mafiya. This coldly ruthless breed of young mob enforcers, most of whom were veterans of the Afghanistan-Russian war, achieved infamous notoriety because of their extreme brutality. According to intelligence gathered by Interpol the person identified as the “Boss” of the Red Mafiya is a 62-year-old Ukrainian-born Jew named Semion Mogilevich. Six years after Mogilevich fashioned the Red Mafiya, this notorious Russian organized crime cartel rose to global prominence as the worlds’ most cruelly vicious criminal organization.

The targets of the Red Mafiya are typically business people who refused to be intimidated or give in to the Red Mafiya’s extortion demands. These individuals (both men and women) were kidnapped and taken to what seemed to be two exclusive villas, but in reality they served as torture chambers for the Red Mafiya. Once in the grip of Mogilevichs’ young enforcers the victims are stabbed and tortured and their bodies butchered and mutilated. The slaughter of these individuals was so gruesome that it not only terrified business-people into compliance, it also terrified rival criminal gangs in the area. Although the primary base of operation for the Red Mafiya is in Budapest, this organization has satellite operations New York, Pennsylvania, Southern California, and as far away as New Zealand.

The sixty-two year old Semion Mogilevich remains an obscure person who fiercely guards his privacy. He is known by his colleagues as the ''Brainy Don,'' perhaps because he has an economics degree from the University of Lvov, Poland, or because of his ability up until the late nineteen-nineties (1990’s) to conduct his huge international criminal network without attracting negative public or media attention. In August of 1996, The Village Voice, a free weekly newspaper published in New York City, was able to obtain a large amount of top secret FBI and Israeli intelligence files along with the latest transcripts of interrogations and interviews with key members of Mogilevich criminal organization. This leaked information also contained intelligence garnered from law enforcement establishments around the world. Mogilevich represents a unique and extremely formidable variety of Russian gangster, the prototype “don” of the new millennium and is considered to be a grave threat to the stability of Israel and Eastern Europe.

Mogilevich - Background:

Little information exists regarding Mogilevich’s early years. Born in Kiev, Mogilevich’s mother was a podiatrist and his father managed a large state owned printing company. As a young man Mogilevich began his criminal career in the early 1970’s as a member of the “Lyubertskaya” crime organization. As a member of this criminal gang, Mogilevich was involved in petty theft and counterfeiting which ultimately led to his conviction for illegal currency speculation in the Ukraine. In the years following his 18 month sentence he was arrested and found guilty of dealing currency on the black market for which he received prison sentence of four (4) years. It wasn’t until the 1980’s that Mogilevich, who is described as bald, weighing approximately three-hundred pounds and who enjoys wearing brightly colored clothes and ostentatious pinky rings, made his first millions.

The 1980’s:

During the mid-nineteen eighties, tens of thousands of Jewish refugees were scrambling to get out of Russia. These Jews were frantically emigrating to Israel and America, but were prohibited from taking their valued possessions. Mogilevich, using his Jewish background made deals with the fleeing Jews to buy their assets (comprised of rubles, jewelry, art and furniture) for a fraction of its true value. In return, Mogilevich promised to sell these items for fair market value and forward the proceeds at a later date. However, Mogilevich reneged and kept the millions realized from the sale of these items. Now Mogilevich’s criminal empire had the financial means to expand globally.

The 1990’s:

In the early 1990’s, in an effort to avoid gangland wars that were exploding all over the city of Moscow, Mogilevich and his top henchmen left Russia and settled in Israel. Mogilevich used his right as a Jew to reside in Israel as an Israeli citizen, where he maintained a low profile. In Israel his criminal activities remained low key as Mogilevich recognized the value of moving unrestricted in a country that does not extradite its citizens. The reach of Mogilevich’s criminal organization extended well beyond the Israeli borders and into countries world-wide. Just as Mogilevich used his Jewish heritage to gain access into Israel, in 1991 he married Katalin Papp, a Hungarian national. This marriage allowed him to legally reside in Budapest. It was in Budapest, Hungary were Mogilevich built the foundation for his international criminal empire.

Mogilevich Vs. FBI / Mossad:

Mogilevich’s criminal activities are well detailed in FBI and Israeli intelligence reports. These reports allege that Mogilevich’s criminal empire is involved in the trafficking of nuclear materials, drugs, prostitution, precious gems, and stolen art. His contract hit squads operate in the U.S. and Europe. He controls everything that goes in and out of Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport, a ''smugglers' paradise,'' says Monya Elson, a well known, long time associate of Mogilevich. Mogilevich bought a bankrupt airline in a former Central Asian Soviet republic for millions of dollars in cash so he could haul heroin out of the Golden Triangle. The US authorities were most disturbed by Mogilevich's seemingly “legal” purchase of almost all of the Hungarian armaments industry; this according to American Central Intelligence Agency can significantly jeopardize the regional and national security of NATO and negatively impact on the war against terrorism.

It is interesting to note that in the October 2001 issue of the Russian magazine “Top Secret,” which relies on sources within the Russian security services, argued that there was direct connection between Osama bin Laden and the Russian mafia. The “Top Secret Magazine” stated in a news article entitled “Black September,” that the head of the largest and most dangerous Russian crime syndicate is none other than Semion Mogilevich. This article continued to allege that Mogilevich met Bin Laden’s associates in Marbella, Spain. According to Robert I. Friedman, “Mogilevich’s lieutenants are trained in intelligence operations and counter-surveillance, and provide warnings of impending police actions. They are experts at compromising Western security services, especially by making secret agreements to provide information on rival crime groups.” The organizational structure of Mogilevich’s criminal empire employs a mix of East Bloc intelligence professionalism with arms smuggling, money laundering, extortion, prostitution, drug trafficking, and murder. Mogilevich’s “former” East bloc intelligence professionals are well compensated for providing training to the al Qaeda terrorists that includes teaching them how to set up safe houses and smuggle weapons. According to sources near the action, East European mobsters (including Mogilevich’s Red Mafiya) are helping al Qaeda to acquire nuclear, chemical, and biological materials. The contraband is smuggled from the “former” Soviet Union and into Slovakia, through the Czech Republic and finally Poland, were they are sold for cash or heroin.

The Al Qaeda Connection?

Rumors persist that London is Bin Laden’s next target, and that “al Qaeda is planning to strike this city or some other city, and that various mafia groups are involved.” Investigative reporter and writer Jeffrey Nyquist maintains that there is no doubt that they are involved. Nyquist questions the rational arguing that, “If one stops for a moment and think things over, is it really conceivable that Russian criminals, without encouragement from Moscow, would dare to smuggle arms to terrorists in Western Europe?” That it seems inconceivable that the Hungarian security troops haven’t stormed Mogilevich’s fortified compound in Budapest; which is the capital of a NATO country. Would this suggest that Hungary is a NATO country in name only but not in reality? According to Nyquist there definitely appears to be “something amiss in this picture.” Nyquist argues that the idea that a police state such as Russia, lead by a police statesman (and ex-KGB agent - Putin) cannot cope with gangsters who steal nuclear, biological, and chemical materials is simply not a credible assertion. According to Nyquist, Vladimir Putin is perfectly capable of using gangster methods against his political opponents; including “oligarchs” and journalists therefore it would seem inconceivable to think that Putin would not use these resources against criminals who steal Russian weapons.

Conspiracy Theory or Fact?

Nyquist questions whether it is possible that “thefts” of Russian WMD materials are somehow useful to Vladimir Putin? After all according to Nyquist, the stolen weapons are smuggled by Russian gangsters and “former” intelligence operatives for use against Western countries. Nyquist asks a difficult question, “If you think about it, Russia’s WMDs were built with Western countries in mind.” But Nyquist indicated, there is another set of questions we also need to ask ourselves.

• Why should a criminal syndicate, Russian or otherwise, be motivated to help Islamists?
• Are American gangsters stealing WMDs and buying armament-factories and setting up compounds in neighboring countries in order to sell arms to terrorists?

When one scrutinizes the Red Mafiya it is important to realize that this is no ordinary case of organized crime. The Red Mafiya has at its disposal an army of Russian criminals who hold doctorates degrees, have been trained in intelligence and military tactics and who are facilitating the advancement of terrorism aimed at the West with impunity. According to Nyquist the world has never faced a criminal empire such as the Red Mafiya before. Jeffrey Nyquist ended his thoughts pertaining to Mogilevich with the following thought.

“Perhaps, at this point, we ought to say something about the elephant in the room. The biggest criminal organization in history, with the largest number of murders to its credit, was no mafia at all. It was a totalitarian formation known as “communism” which killed over100 million people in the twentieth century and looted untold wealth. Communism was a formation that supposedly broke apart and no longer threatens the world. But what if this formation reformed itself in an unexpected way? What if this formation found a new path, a new set of tricks and a new avenue of attack? Think about it.”

Concluding Thoughts:

While researching and examining the various books, internet sources and other documents associated with the criminal activities of Semion Mogilevich, this researcher found this enigmatic criminal strangely fascinating. Mogilevich’s brilliance was matched only by his ruthless brutality. As Mogilevich began to develop his criminal organization, he took full advantage of the breakdown of Russian political infrastructure and the ensuing economic and social chaos. Mogilevich employed highly qualified professionals and disillusioned veterans of the Russian – Afghanistan war. These people provided him with the muscle and brains required to successfully build his criminal empire. When gangland wars began to threaten Mogilevich’s safety, he fled Moscow and relocated in Israel: he did this by using his entitlement as a Jew and declaring himself an Israeli citizen. The fact that just a few years earlier he had stolen millions of dollars from desperate Jews forced to flee Russia went unnoticed. The collapse of the Russian economy combined with the erosion of government owned industry and armed forces created an environment in which Russia had become a “Petri-dish” for the growth of organized crime. Even Mogilevich’s marriage was one of convenience, by marrying Katalin Papp, a Hungarian national; he gained legal access into Budapest, Hungary. By this point in Mogilevich’s career his reach had taken on an international influence. Mogilevich has the ability to discern weaknesses that are inherent to national and international law. For example, because Israel does not extradite its citizens, Mogilevich was free to conduct illegal activities in other countries without fear of prosecution. Perhaps his most enterprising criminal initiative was his recognition that the laws and regulations associated with the North American Stock Market were both antiquated and poorly regulated. By employing highly qualified economists and individuals who already had in place a well developed business network, Mogilevich was able to exploit any and all weaknesses or loop-holes exposed by his team. Mogilevich’s nefarious undertakings were a perfect fit for the North American market place, a market driven by the price of stock, CEO bonuses, and greed. While it is difficult to justify or rationalize Mogilevich’s brutally affective manner of conducting business, one cannot ignore the reality that Mogilevich used fundamental business principles upon which he founded a highly successful criminal organization. As the end of the first decade of the new millennium approaches it appears to this writer that the lines between what is considered a very efficient and effective business enterprise and what is defined as “white-collar-crime” has started to become less and less distinct. Perhaps in the final analysis, history will remember Mogilevich as the man who identified and subsequently forced the international and the North American Stock Markets to revamp governing regulations and tighten up grey areas ripe for illegal exploitation.