Spain breaks up Tambov Mafiya ring

Spanish authorities say they have broken up the Tambov "family" of the Russian Mafiya, according to reports from the St. Petersburg (Russia) Times, UPI and RIA Novosti.

Twenty people were arrested across the country June 14 on money laundering, tax fraud and criminal association charges. Four hundred law enforcement officers participated in raids conducted in Madrid, Barcelona, Malaga, Valencia and the Balearic Islands. In addition to the 20 suspects, the raids netted 23 luxury cars, a yacht, weapons and hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of cash. Police also froze an estimated $18 million in bank accounts believed linked to the Tambov organization.

Over the weekend, five suspects were freed after promising not to leave the country. Two were released on bail. The other 13 suspects remain in custody. Gennady Petrov (left), a reputed leader of the gang, is among those still held by Spanish authorities. Petrov and his wife were arrested at their home in the Sol de Mallorca region of the island of Mallorca. Police also nabbed alleged Petrov deputy Yuri Salikov.

Alexander Malyshev, another reputed leader of the criminal organization, was also arrested, along with his wife and a friend. They were arrested at a luxury estate in Frigiliana, province of Malaga.

The Tambov organization - based in St. Petersburg, Russia, but named for a southwestern Russian city - is believed to have hundreds of members. Russian, U.S., German and Swiss authorities assisted in the Spanish law enforcement action.

Last August, Tambov boss Vladimir Basukov was arrested at his home outside of St. Petersburg. He remains in custody in Moscow.

Russian crime boss arrested in Moscow

Moscow police arrested Semyon Mogilevich, 61, reputed organized crime boss, in late January, according to published reports. Mogilevich is believed to have had a hand in uranium smuggling, drug trafficking, money laundering, bank fraud and other criminal rackets. He was charged with corporate tax evasion amounting to $2 million, according to a story by Andrew E. Kramer of the New York Times. Authorities say he also is wanted in the United States and in Britain for decades of offenses.

Killers Krivoi, Ivanitsky sentenced to 25-to-life

Two Ukrainian immigrants, Marat Krivoi and Vitaly Ivanitsky, were sentenced yesterday to 25 years to life in prison for the 1992 killings of two men in Brooklyn, according to the New York Times. The killers were convicted in separate trials this past August.

According to authorities, Krivoi is the former son-in-law of Boris Nayfield, a leading figure in the Russian Mafiya.

Krivoi (left) reportedly ordered the shooting death of Boris Roitman, 21, and personally killed Thien Diep, 24. He feared that criminal associate Roitman was serving as a police informant and ordered him killed by Pyotr Sarkisov, according to prosecutors. Roitman died of a shotgun blast to the chest on Aug. 26, 1992. Diep, a high-stakes pool player, was shot in the head by Krivoi during a Sept. 23, 1992, robbery, as Ivanitsky served as lookout and driver.

Prosecutors said Krivoi, then in his early 20s, was the leader of a gang specializing in burglary and extortion. He has been imprisoned since 1993 for two other killings.

Prosecutors were hampered in their efforts to resolve the Roitman and Diep killings by witnesses' unwillingness to testify. Informants began providing evidence in the cases only in 2006, 14 years after the killings occurred.

Krivoi guilty in snitch murder

Marat Krivoi, 37, a Brooklyn mobster connected to the Russian Mafiya, was convicted Friday of two underworld murders, according to stories by Jennifer Fermino of the New York Post and Nancie L. Katz of the New York Daily News.

Krivoi (left) is the former son-in-law of Boris Nayfield, a chief of the Russian mob.

Krivoi was charged in Kings County NY of participation in two killings committed a month apart in 1992: Boris Roitman, 21, who Krivoi feared was a police informant, was killed by shotgun wounds to his chest and neck in Brooklyn on Aug. 26, 1992; Thien Diep, 24, a high-stakes pool player, was shot in the head during the course of a robbery on or about Sept. 23, 1992.

Prosecutors argued that Krivoi ordered underling Pyotr Sarkisov to kill Roitman and that Krivoi personally shot Diep. In a separate trial, Krivoi accomplice Vitaly Ivanitsky was found guilty of the same crimes a day earlier.

Russian mobsters tried for murder

Two alleged Russian mobsters are on trial in Brooklyn Supreme Court for 1992 killings, according to a story by Nancie L. Katz of the New York Daily News.

Marat Krivoi, 37, and Vitaly Ivanitsky, 33, both immigrants to the U.S., are on trial for the underworld executions of Boris Roitman in August 1992 and Thien Diep in December of that year. Informants provided law enforcement with evidence in the slayings just last year.

Krivoi, imprisoned since 1993 for two other killings, is reportedly the son-in-law of Russian Mafiya bigshot Boris Nayfield.

Russian Mafiya suspect killed at courthouse

Accused blackmailer Maxim Kurochkin was shot to death today as he left a court building in Kiev, Ukraine, according to a story by the Reuters news agency.

Officials have linked Kurochkin (left) with a number of corporate scandals and with the Russian Mafiya organization. He was in court for a hearing on extortion charges.

An unidentified gunman shot Kurochkin and a police officer in the yard outside the court building. The police officer survived the attack.

An unsuccessful attempt was made on Kurochkin's life back in 2004.

UK's Adams gets seven years

Reputed London crime boss Terry Adams (left) was sentenced March 9 to seven years in prison, according to a story by Robert Stansfield of the UK Daily Record.

Adams, 52, believed by authorities to be responsible for as many as 25 killings, was instead convicted of money laundering. He pleaded guilty to a single count last month. He will be eligible for parole after serving half of his sentence.

Adams and his brothers Tommy and Patsy reputedly ran a criminal empire that had links to Colombian cocaine distributors and the Russian Mafiya and engaged itself in loansharking, protection rackets and money laundering.

As part of a plea deal, authorities dropped charges against Adams' wife Ruth.

The costs involved in the Adams case are staggering. An estimated 10 million British pounds ($19 million US) was reportedly spent on an investigation that lasted for years. That investigation was triggered when Adams was found to be inaccurately reporting income to Inland Revenue. Prosecution of the charges against Adams is believed to have cost 4 million pounds. Authorities believe Adams' empire is worth about $380 million (US).

Related MobNews posts:

• Former Adams henchman tells of UK crime family 02-13-07
• North London gang boss jailed 02-08-07

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