80-499: Michael Franzese Sr ( / f r æ n ˈ z iː s / ) ( né Grillo ; born May 27, 1951) is an American former mobster who was a caporegime in the Colombo crime family , and son of former underboss Sonny Franzese . Franzese was enrolled in a pre-med program at Hofstra University , but dropped out to make money for his family after his father was sentenced to 50 years in prison for bank robbery in 1967. He eventually helped implement
160-572: A caporegime of a crew of 300. In 1981, Franzese was contacted by Lawrence Salvatore Iorizzo, who had developed a scheme to defraud the federal government out of gasoline taxes in 1985. Iorizzo was being hassled by criminals in California and offered Franzese a percentage if he would defend and solve the issue. The pair set up 18 stock-bearer companies based in Panama. Under law at the time in Panama, gasoline could be sold tax-free from one wholesale company to
240-551: A made man in the Sicilian and Italian-American mafia. The honor of becoming a Vor is given only when the recruit shows considerable leadership skills, personal ability, intellect, and charisma. A Pakhan or another high-ranking member of an organization can decide if the recruit will receive such title. When you become a member of the Vor -world you have to accept the code of the Vor v Zakone (' thief in law '). Groups based in and around
320-583: A motivational speaker for youth, at schools, prisons, and other venues. He also speaks at Christian conferences and churches, including Willow Creek Community Church , in 2016. On July 23, 2002, while appearing on the HBO television program Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel , Franzese stated that during the 1970s and 1980s, he persuaded New York Yankees players who owed money to Colombo loansharks to fix baseball games for betting purposes. The Yankees organization immediately denied Franzese's accusations. In April 2013,
400-532: A submarine for cocaine smuggling. Unfortunately for the two of them, federal agents had been keeping a close eye on Fainberg for months. Alexander Yasevich, an associate of the Russian military contact and an undercover DEA agent, was sent to verify the illegal dealing, and in 1997, Fainberg was finally arrested in Miami. Facing the possibility of life imprisonment, the latter agreed to testify against Almeida in exchange for
480-1039: A "good relationship" with Vladimir Putin since the 1990s. On 7 June 2017, 33 Russian mafia affiliates and members were arrested and charged by the FBI, US Customs and Border Protection and NYPD for extortion, racketeering, illegal gambling, firearm offenses, narcotics trafficking, wire fraud, credit card fraud, identity theft , fraud on casino slot machines using electronic hacking devices; based in Atlantic City and Philadelphia, murder-for-hire conspiracy and cigarette trafficking. They were also accused of operating secret and underground gambling dens based in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn , and using violence against those who owed gambling debts, establishing nightclubs to sell drugs, plotting to force women associates to rob male strangers by seducing and drugging them with chloroform , and trafficking over 10,000 pounds of stolen chocolate confectionery ;
560-741: A documentary called The Definitive Guide to the Mob was released by Lionsgate , with Franzese as commentator. Later in 2013, he appeared in Inside the American Mob , a National Geographic documentary. Franzese released an autobiographical biopic, God the Father , in 2014, which was released in theaters across 20 cities in the United States. The film uses a combination of stock footage, animated recreations, as well as interviews to tell his life story. It cites religion as
640-520: A home in Delray Beach, Florida . In 1986, Fortune Magazine listed Franzese as number 18 on its list of the "Fifty Most Wealthy and Powerful Mafia Bosses". Vanity Fair cited him as one of the biggest money earners for the mafia since Al Capone . He was referred to as the "Yuppie Don" in the 1980s, and as "Prince of the Mafia". During the 1970s, he began to enter the world of legitimate business and by
720-520: A meeting he agreed to hand over $ 50,000 in return for a 25 percent interest from the sports agency. Franzese was the president of Miami Gold, a film production company that produced the 1986 film Knights of the City . In April 1985, Franzese was acquitted of racketeering charges. In another case in December 1985, Franzese was charged in both Florida and New York in regards to counterfeiting and extortion from
800-531: A paid protection racket). Contract killings were common. It was the period of internationalization of Russian organized crime. It was agreed that Vyacheslav "Yaponchik" Ivankov would be sent to Brighton Beach in 1992, allegedly because he was killing too many people in Russia and also to take control of Russian organized crime in North America. Within a year, he built an international operation that included but
880-609: A parole violation, and ultimately released in 1994. Soon after, he retired to California and is now a motivational speaker and writer. Franzese was born May 27, 1951, in Brooklyn , New York to John "Sonny" Franzese , a Colombo crime family underboss , and Cristina Capobianco-Franzese, although Michael had initially questioned who his actual biological father was. Franzese had initially believed that he had been adopted by John after his mother divorced Frank Grillo, whom Franzese thought to be his biological father. Michael says he had gone by
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#1732852301492960-438: A popular hangout for underworld criminals. Fainberg himself gained a reputation as an ambassador among international crime groups, becoming especially close to Juan Almeida, a Colombian cocaine dealer. Planning to expand his cocaine business, Fainberg acted as an intermediary between Almeida and the corrupt Russian military . He helped him get six Russian military helicopters in 1993, and in the following year, helped arrange to buy
1040-399: A prison guard. He also spent three years in solitary confinement . In 1992, Franzese co-authored his first book, an autobiography, Quitting the Mob . In the book, Franzese discusses his criminal activities, life with his father, and meeting his second wife, Camille Garcia. He was released on November 7, 1994, retiring from the mob in 1995 by moving to California with his wife and children;
1120-415: A racketeering case after wearing a wire during conversations with him. Michael described his brother as a "nobody in the mob life", and that his father "felt sick" that one of his sons had "betrayed him like this". Sonny Franzese was sentenced to eight years in prison, and was released from prison in 2017 at the age of 100, dying three years later. Birth name#Maiden and married names A birth name
1200-550: A rather large stronghold in the city of Atlanta where members are distinguished by their tattoos. Russian organized crime was reported to have a stronger grip in the French Riviera region and Spain in 2010; and Russia was branded as a virtual "mafia state" according to the WikiLeaks cables . According to recordings released in 2015, Alexander Litvinenko , shortly before he was assassinated, claimed that Semion Mogilevich has had
1280-522: A scheme in which the Camorra would bleach out US$ 1 bills and reprint them as $ 100s. These bills would then be transported to the Russian mafia for distribution in 29 post- Eastern Bloc countries and former Soviet republics. In return, the Russian mafia paid the Camorra with property (including a Russian bank) and firearms, smuggled into Eastern Europe and Italy. A report by the United Nations in 1995 placed
1360-433: A scheme to defraud the federal government out of gasoline taxes in the early 1980s. By the age of 35, in 1986, Fortune Magazine listed Franzese as number 18 on its list of the "Fifty Most Wealthy and Powerful Mafia Bosses". Franzese claimed that at the height of his career, he generated up to $ 8 million per week. In 1986, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison on conspiracy charges, released in 1989, rearrested in 1991 for
1440-464: A sentence of 5 years with the judge in the case citing the importance of Franzese's testimony. After Walters' conviction, Franzese was released from prison on parole after serving 43 months. In September 1990, Walters' conviction was overturned by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals citing a technicality . On December 27, 1991, Franzese was sentenced in New York to four years in federal prison for violating
1520-405: A shorter sentence, which ended up being 33 months. The FreeLance Bureau (FLB.ru) [ ru ] published a website in 2000 containing Philipp Bobkov 's MOST Group Security Database along with files from RUOP and other departments and special services. Vanuatu was a preferred location for Russian mafia laundering money. As the 21st century dawned, the Russian mafia remained after
1600-583: A six-year prison sentence in Israel, returned to America and set up a rival heroin business, culminating in a mafia turf war. When the USSR collapsed and a free market economy emerged, organized criminal groups began to take over Russia's economy, with many ex- KGB agents and veterans of the Afghan war offering their skills to the crime bosses. Gangster summit meetings had taken place in hotels and restaurants shortly before
1680-616: A stage musical, A Mob Story , at the Plaza Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. The show opened in October 2018 and was created and directed by Jeff Kutash . In 2019, Franzese became co-founder of a national franchise of pizza restaurants called "Slices Pizza". Slices serves Sicilian -style square pizzas with ingredients sourced from Naples and Campania , with ovens from Venice . The franchise started in California, and included five branches across
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#17328523014921760-569: A ten-year maximum security prison sentence. Before his arrest and besides his operations in America, Ivankov regularly flew around Europe and Asia to maintain ties with his fellow mobsters (like members of the Solntsevskaya Bratva ), as well as reinforce ties with others. This did not stop other people from denying his growing power. In one instance, Ivankov attempted to buy out Georgian boss Valeri "Globus" Glugech's drug importation business. When
1840-534: Is a Christian. He has been married twice. He lives in Newport Beach, California with his wife, Camille Garcia, and their seven children. Franzese met his current wife in 1984, while shooting the film Knights of the City in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida . His wife, a Christian, also influenced him in his decision to leave the mob. In 2010, Franzese's brother John Franzese Jr. testified against their father Sonny Franzese in
1920-471: Is a collective of various organized crime related elements originating in the former Soviet Union (FSU). Any of the mafia's groups may be referred to as an "Organized Criminal Group" (OPG, from Russian "организованная преступная группа" ). This is sometimes modified to include a specific name, such as the Orekhovskaya OPG . Sometimes, the Russian word is dropped in favour of a full translation, and OCG
2000-567: Is crime involving our former compatriots abroad, but there is no data suggesting that an organized structure of criminal groups comprising former Russians exists abroad" on the topic of international Russian criminal gangs. In August 2010, Alain Bauer , a criminologist from France , said that the Russian mafia "is one of the best structured criminal organizations in Europe , with a quasi-military operation" in their international activities. The Russian mafia
2080-459: Is similar to the Italian crime groups in many ways, in that the groups' organizations and structures follow a similar model. The two groups also share a similar portfolio of criminal activity. The highly publicized Sicilian Mafia is believed to have inspired early criminal groups in Russia to form mafia-like organizations, eventually spawning their own version. The Russian mafia, however, differed from
2160-503: Is the name given to a person upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname , the given name , or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth register may by that fact alone become the person's legal name . The assumption in the Western world is often that the name from birth (or perhaps from baptism or brit milah ) will persist to adulthood in
2240-461: Is the masculine form. The term née , having feminine grammatical gender , can be used to denote a woman's surname at birth that has been replaced or changed. In most English-speaking cultures, it is specifically applied to a woman's maiden name after her surname has changed due to marriage. The term né can be used to denote a man's surname at birth that has subsequently been replaced or changed. The diacritic mark (the acute accent ) over
2320-583: Is used instead of OPG. In 2012, there were as many as 6,000 groups, with more than 200 of them having a global reach. Criminals of these various groups are either former prison members, corrupt officials and business leaders, people with ethnic ties, or people from the same region with shared criminal experiences and leaders. In December 2009, Timur Lakhonin , the head of the National Central Bureau of Interpol within Russia , stated that "Certainly, there
2400-508: Is where Russian organized crime began in the US. The earliest known case of Russian crime in the area was in the mid-1970s by the " Potato Bag Gang ", a group of con artists disguised as merchants that told customers that they were selling antique gold rubles for cheap, but in fact, gave them bags of potatoes when bought in thousands. By 1983, the head of Russian organized crime in Brighton Beach
2480-627: The Camorra , in particular with Salvatore DeFalco, a lower-echelon member of the Giuliano clan . Mogilevich and DeFalco would have held meetings in Prague in 1993. Semion Mogilevich's net worth is estimated to be 10 billion dollars. Ivankov's reign also ended in June 1995 when a $ 3.5 million extortion attempt on two Russian businessmen, Alexander Volkov and Vladimir Voloshin, ended in an FBI arrest that resulted in
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2560-461: The Genovese crime family mobster Daniel Pagano . Quintana was to give the impression that he was buying his way into the boxing world in order for King to reveal his criminal associations, however the investigation subsequently collapsed after Quintana failed to follow through with several hundred thousand dollars. In 1985, Walters set up a sports management agency with Franzese as a silent partner. At
2640-517: The Russian Empire , in the form of banditry and thievery, but it was not until after the establishment of the Soviet Union that certain vory v zakone ( lit. ' thieves in law ' ) emerged as the leaders of prison groups throughout forced labour camps with a generally well-defined code of honour. In the aftermath of World War II in 1945, the death of Joseph Stalin in 1953, and
2720-683: The dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, more gangs emerged in a flourishing black market that exploited the unstable governments of the FSU. American attorney Louis Freeh , who headed the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) between 1993 and 2001, said that the Russian mafia posed the greatest threat to the United States in the mid-1990s. When the Bolshevik Revolution came around in 1917,
2800-456: The e is considered significant to its spelling, and ultimately its meaning, but is sometimes omitted. According to Oxford University 's Dictionary of Modern English Usage , the terms are typically placed after the current surname (e.g., " Margaret Thatcher , née Roberts" or " Bill Clinton , né Blythe"). Since they are terms adopted into English (from French), they do not have to be italicized , but they often are. In Polish tradition ,
2880-565: The probation requirements from his 1989 release. Franzese had been arrested in Los Angeles on a tax fraud accusation and was sent back to New York for the probation hearing. In court, prosecutors complained that Franzese had only started paying the balance of his court-ordered restitution payments earlier that year. "Mr. Franzese has led the Government on a long, merry chase for a number of years," United States Attorney Andrew J. Maloney said after
2960-409: The " krysha " because the laws and the court system were not functioning properly in Russia. The only way for them to enforce a contract was to turn to a criminal " krysha ". They also used it to intimidate competitors, enforce contracts, collect debts, or take over new markets. It was also becoming increasingly common for Russian businesses to turn to the "red krysha " (the corrupt police who doubled as
3040-430: The "hierarchy". Outcasts, the suki separated from the others and formed their own groups and power bases by collaborating with prison officials, eventually gaining the luxury of comfortable positions. Bitterness between the groups erupted into a series of Bitch Wars from 1945 to 1953, with many killed every day. The prison officials encouraged the violence, seeing it as a way to rid the prisons of criminals. Then, in
3120-408: The 1980s, Mikhail Gorbachev loosened restrictions on private businesses , allowing them to grow legally, but by then, the Soviet Union was already beginning to collapse. Also during the 1970s and 1980s, the United States expanded its immigration policies, allowing Soviet Jews , with most settling in a southern Brooklyn area known as Brighton Beach (sometimes nicknamed "Little Odessa "). Here
3200-518: The Czech police got wind of an anonymous tip-off that claimed that the Solntsevskaya were planning to assassinate Mogilevich at the location (it was rumored that Mogilevich and Solntsevskaya leader Sergei Mikhailov had a dispute over $ 5 million), and the police successfully raided the meeting. 200 guests were arrested, but no charges were put against them; only key Russian mafia members were banned from
3280-551: The Sicilians due to their environment. The level of political corruption and arms sales in post-Soviet Russia allowed for their massive expansion, as well as the incorporation of many government officials into the crime syndicates. Russian mafia groups have also been involved in uranium trading, stolen from the Soviet nuclear program , and human trafficking, among other serious activities. Today's Russian organized crime can be traced back to
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3360-455: The Soviet Union during World War II , Stalin recruited more men to fight for the nation, offering prisoners freedom if they joined the army. Many flocked to help out in the war, but this act betrayed the codes of the Thieves' World that one must not ally with the government. Those who chose not to fight in the war referred to the traitors as suka ('bitch'), and the traitors landed at the bottom of
3440-662: The Soviet's dissolution, so that top vory v zakone could agree on who would rule what, and set plans on how to take over the post-communist states. In the 1990s, in Russia and other post-Soviet countries, vast deposits of natural resources and businesses that the state had owned for decades were privatized . Former Soviet bureaucrats, factory directors, aggressive businessmen, and criminal organizations used insider deals, bribery, and simple brute force to grab lucrative assets. Businesses began building their own private armies of security agents, bodyguards, and commercial spies. They often bought
3520-470: The Thieves' World was alive and active. Vladimir Lenin attempted to wipe them out, but it failed, and the criminals survived into Joseph Stalin's reign. During Stalin's reign as ruler, millions of people were sent to Gulag labor camps , where powerful criminals worked their way up to become thieves in law . These criminal elites often conveyed their status through complicated tattoos, symbols still used by Russian mobsters. After Hitler 's invasion of
3600-455: The arrests of 11 members and associates of the Solntsevskaya and Izmailovskaya clans. Money, firearms and 23 high-end vehicles were also seized. The owner of Marbella FC , Alexander Grinberg, and manager of AFK Sistema, a Spanish football club in Málaga, were among those arrested. On 19 February 2018, 18 defendants were accused of laundering over $ 62 million through real estate, including with
3680-412: The chocolate was stolen from shipment containers. It is believed that 27 of the arrested are connected to the Russian mafia Shulaya clan which are largely based in New York. On 26 September 2017, as part of a 4-year investigation, 100 Spanish Civil Guard officers carried out 18 searches in different areas of Málaga , Spain, related to Russian mafia large scale money laundering. The raids resulted in
3760-592: The country at its height. In 2022, Franzese founded Franzese Wines, a line of Armenian wines . In July 2020, he appeared in the Netflix docuseries Fear City: New York vs The Mafia . In June 2020, Franzese started a YouTube channel. On his channel he tells stories about his past life, makes interviews, and reviews mafia-related films, television shows and video games, and analyzes their accuracy. His subscriber count exceeded one million in January 2023. Franzese appeared in
3840-454: The country, most of whom moved to Hungary. One person who was not there was Mogilevich himself. He claimed that, "[b]y the time I arrived at U Holubu, everything was already in full swing, so I went into a neighboring hotel and sat in the bar there until about five or six in the morning." Mikhailov would later be arrested in Switzerland in October 1996 on numerous charges, including that he
3920-516: The court session. "We essentially view him as a con man." " Prosecutors said that Franzese was no longer considered by the government to be a federal cooperating witness because of his parole violations. In 1990, Franzese was portrayed by Joseph Bono in the Martin Scorsese film Goodfellas (1990). While imprisoned in 1991, Franzese became a born-again Christian after he was given a Bible by
4000-406: The death of Aslan Usoyan. New mafia bosses sprang up, while imprisoned ones were released. Among the released were Marat Balagula and Vyacheslav Ivankov , both in 2004. The latter was extradited to Russia, but was jailed once more for his alleged murders of two Turks in a Moscow restaurant in 1992; he was cleared of all charges and released in 2005. Four years later, he was assassinated by a shot in
4080-590: The documentary series American Godfathers: The Five Families in 2024. Franzese is the author of seven books: Quitting the Mob (1992), Blood Covenant (2003), The Good, the Bad and the Forgiven (2009), I'll Make You an Offer You Can't Refuse (2011), From the Godfather to God the Father (2014), Blood Covenant: The Story of the "Mafia Prince" Who Publicly Quit the Mob and Lived (2018) and Mafia Democracy (2022). Franzese
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#17328523014924160-536: The gas scheme. Franzese had claimed that at the height of his career, he generated up to $ 8 million per week. Revenue officials estimated $ 250 million in gasoline tax was stolen in New York state per year, before moving on to Florida which was estimated to have lost $ 40 million to $ 250 million in stolen gasoline tax. Authorities believe the money was laundered through Franzese's film production company, Miami Gold, to offshore bank accounts in Austria and Panama. Franzese bought
4240-728: The gasoline bootlegging racket. In New York, Franzese was one of nine people indicted on 14 counts. In Florida, Franzese was one of 26 people indicted on 177 counts after a 16-month investigation in Florida called "Operation Tiger Tail". Iorizzo, who was already sentenced to five years and ordered to pay $ 1.7 million for his role in the theft of $ 1.1 million in gas taxes and placed in the witness protection program , began testifying against Franzese and others in their operation in March 1985. On March 21, 1986, Franzese pleaded guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy and one count of tax conspiracy. Franzese
4320-453: The help of Vladislav Reznik , former chairman of Rosgosstrakh , one of Russia's largest insurance companies. The accused stood trial in Spain. The Tambov and Malyshev Russian mafia organisations were involved. Alexander Torshin is allegedly a high ranking Russian mafia boss. In the Russian mafia, " Vor " ( pl. : Vory ) ( lit. ' thief ' ) is an honorary title analogous to
4400-431: The initial $ 50,000 to Walters to start his agency booking company with a 25% share of any profits. Additionally, Franzese would assist with any entertainers Walters had problems with by meeting their agents. In 1981, Franzese successfully extorted a role for Walters in the US tour by singer Michael Jackson and his brothers. In 1982, the manager for singer Dionne Warwick wanted to drop Walters as an agent; Franzese met with
4480-561: The latter refused the offer, he and his top associates were shot dead. A summit held in May 1994 in Vienna rewarded him with what was left of Glugech's business. Two months later, Ivankov got into another altercation with drug kingpin and head of the Orekhovskaya gang , Segei "Sylvester" Timofeyev, ending with the latter murdered a month later. In 1995, the Camorra cooperated with the Russian mafia in
4560-404: The manager and persuaded him to keep Walters. In 1983, the FBI launched an investigation into boxing promoter Don King 's organized crime connections and targeted Franzese to introduce an FBI undercover agent, using the alias Victor Quintana, to King. Franzese, who had never met King, says he was introduced to him by civil rights leader Al Sharpton . Franzese claimed he first met Sharpton through
4640-441: The mid-1980s Franzese had a stronghold on various businesses such as car dealerships, leasing companies, auto repair shops, restaurants, nightclubs, a contractor company, movie production and distribution companies, travel agencies and video stores. By 1980, Franzese was a partner with booking agent Norby Walters in his firm. Franzese's role was to intimidate existing and prospective clients. Franzese would later testify he provided
4720-615: The motivation for Franzese changing his life. In March 2015, he appeared in a two-part documentary on the American Mafia with television presenter and reporter Trevor McDonald . He spoke about his wealth, but also the impact of being a member of the Colombo crime family had on his family, and that was why he turned away from organized crime. In 2017, he played a reformed mobster in the Kevin Sorbo film Let There Be Light . Franzese hosted
4800-772: The name "Michael Grillo" until he was 18 years old. However, it was later discovered that John, already married with three children, had gotten the 16-year-old Capobianco, a cigarette girl at the Stork Club in Manhattan, pregnant with Michael, so Capobianco married Grillo to avoid having a scandal surrounding having a child out of wedlock. After the mob allowed John to divorce his first wife, Grillo disappeared, and John married Capobianco. Franzese later moved to Long Island . His father originally did not want him to be involved in organized crime. However, in 1971, Franzese decided to drop out of college to help his family earn money when his father
4880-399: The next 20 years. Although Franzese recounts this ceremony had taken place in 1975, the membership books reportedly were not reopened until 1976. They had been closed since 1957. Franzese was briefly mentored by Colombo soldier Joseph "Joe-Joe" Vitacco (1927–1980). During the late 1970s, Franzese met with future Gambino crime family boss John Gotti , who was then a soldier. Angelo Ruggiero
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#17328523014924960-558: The next. Franzese partnered with the Russian Mafia in Brooklyn in the gas scheme. The wholesale gas was sold to one company, but shipped to another company, while a third company, a dummy company, sold the gasoline on paper, and would forge tax documents for the company that received the gasoline. Franzese's crew was then able to collect and pocket the nine cents per gallon of gasoline in federal tax. Once enforcement agents attempt to collect
5040-405: The normal course of affairs—either throughout life or until marriage. Some reasons for changes of a person's name include middle names , diminutive forms, changes relating to parental status (due to one's parents' divorce or adoption by different parents), and gender transition . The French and English-adopted née is the feminine past participle of naître , which means "to be born". Né
5120-617: The number of individuals involved in organized crime in Russia at 3 million, employed in about 5,700 gangs. Back in Eastern Europe in May 1995, Semion Mogilevich held a summit meeting of Russian mafia bosses in his U Holubu restaurant in Anděl , a neighborhood of Prague . The excuse to bring them together was that it was a birthday party for Victor Averin, the second-in-command of the Solntsevskaya Bratva. However, Major Tomas Machacek of
5200-481: The other is Konstantin "Gizya" Ginzburg, who was reportedly the current "big boss" of Russian organized crime in America before his reported assassination in 2009, it being suspected that Ivankov handed over control to him. In the same year, Semion Mogilevich was placed on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list for his involvement in a complex multimillion-dollar scheme that defrauded investors in
5280-590: The people and weapons of the former Soviet state or even those of the current Russian police . Russia's new capitalists spent millions of dollars for protection, buying armor-plated cars, bomb sensors, hidden cameras, bulletproof vests, anti-wiretapping gear, and weapons, recruiting veterans of the Afghan and Chechen wars as their bodyguards. However, almost every business in Russia, from curbside vendors to huge oil and gas companies, made payments to organized crime for protection (" krysha "). Businessmen said that they needed
5360-422: The relocation was also a result of receiving multiple death threats and contracts on his life, including one approved by his father. Since his release in 1994, Franzese has publicly renounced and denounced the life of organized crime, stating "I never glamorize my mob life. It's an evil life", and "I don't know one family that's part of that life [mob life] that hasn't been totally devastated". He has since become
5440-466: The stock of his company YBM Magnex International, swindling them out of $ 150 million. He was indicted in 2003 and arrested in 2008 in Russia on tax fraud charges, but because the US does not have an extradition treaty with Russia, he was released on bail. Monya Elson said, in 1998, that Mogilevich is the most powerful mobster in the world. Around the world, Russian mafia groups have popped up as dominating particular areas. Russian organized crime has
5520-479: The stomach from a sniper. Meanwhile, Monya Elson and Leonid Roytman were arrested in March 2006 for an unsuccessful murder plot against two Kyiv -based businessmen. In 2009, FBI agents in Moscow targeted two suspected mafia leaders and two other corrupt businessmen. One of the leaders is Yevgeny Dvoskin, a criminal who had been in prison with Ivankov in 1995 and was deported in 2001 for breaking immigration regulations;
5600-421: The tax from the dummy company, it declares bankruptcy and the daisy chain would continue. This gasoline supplied between one third and one half of all gasoline sold in the New York metropolitan area. According to officials, Franzese kept 75 percent of the profits, making $ 1.26 million per month, while Iorizzo made $ 45,000 per month. An associate later testified that Franzese personally made $ 1 million per week from
5680-507: The term z domu (literally meaning "of the house", de domo in Latin ) may be used, with rare exceptions, meaning the same as née . Russian Mafia The Russian mafia ( Russian : ру́сская ма́фия rússkaya máfiya [ˈruskəjə ˈmafʲɪjə] or росси́йская ма́фия rossíyskaya máfiya [rɐˈsʲijskəjə ˈmafʲɪjə] ), otherwise referred to as bratva ( братва́ bratvá [brɐtˈva] ; lit. ' brothers' clique ' ),
5760-431: Was Evsei Agron . Pauol Mirzoyan was a prime target among other mobsters, including rival Boris Goldberg and his organization, and in May 1985, Agron was assassinated. Boris "Biba" Nayfeld , his bodyguard, moved on to employ under Marat Balagula , who was believed to have succeeded Agron's authority. In the following year, Balagula fled the country after he was convicted in a fraud scheme of Merrill Lynch customers and
5840-597: Was also present. Franzese was contacted by a flea market owner who complained that his partner was using and selling drugs at the market in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Franzese agreed to frighten him and become the new partner. Franzese sent Colombo soldier-turned informant Anthony Sarivola and another member who remains unidentified. Gotti however claimed that the scared-off partner was an associate of his. Franzese later expressed admiration for Gotti, citing his strict mobster lifestyle and his overwhelming ego. In 1980, Franzese had become
5920-475: Was found in Frankfurt , West Germany, in 1989, where he was extradited back to the US and sentenced to eight years in prison. Balagula would later be convicted on a separate $ 360,000 credit card fraud in 1992. Nayfield took Balagula's place, partnering with the "Polish Al Capone", Ricardo Fanchiniin, in an import-export business and setting up a heroin business. In 1990, his former friend, Monya Elson, back from
6000-485: Was in a feud with Boris Nayfeld, with bodies dropping on both sides. Ivankov's arrival virtually ended the feud, although Elson would later challenge his power as well, and a number of attempts were made to end the former's life. Nayfield and Elson would eventually be arrested in January 1994 (released in 1998) and in Italy in 1995, respectively. According to FBI reports, the crime boss Semion Mogilevich had alliances with
6080-465: Was not limited to narcotics , money laundering , and prostitution and made ties with the American Mafia and Colombian drug cartels , eventually extending to Miami, Los Angeles, and Boston . Prior to Ivankov's arrival, Balagula's downfall left a void for America's next vory v zakone . Monya Elson, leader of Monya's Brigada (a gang that similarly operated from Russia to Los Angeles to New York),
6160-477: Was ordered to pay an additional $ 3 million in restitution to the state of Florida. Franzese was subpoenaed to testify at Walters' trial in March 1989, as Walters had invoked his name to frighten college athletes into signing management contracts, including Maurice Douglass . In exchange for his testimony, he was given immunity from prosecution in the Walters case. Walters was found guilty, fined $ 395,000 and given
6240-621: Was sentenced to 10 years in prison and ordered to pay $ 14.7 million in restitution on the federal charges, agreeing to sell his assets including a mansion in Old Brookville, New York , the Miami Gold production company, and use proceeds from the Knights of the City film. He then reached a plea agreement and was sentenced to nine years in prison for state racketeering charges in Florida which would run concurrently with his previous conviction. He also
6320-516: Was sentenced to 50 years in prison for bank robbery in 1967. Franzese became acquainted with his father's friends such as Joseph Colombo , and according to Franzese, later became inducted as a made man on Halloween night 1975 under acting boss Tommy DiBella . As part of the ceremony Franzese took the blood oath and swore omerta . He took the oath alongside friend Jimmy Angelino, Joseph Peraino Jr., Salvatore Miciotta, Vito Guzzo Sr., and John Minerva — all of whom except Miciotta died violently over
6400-418: Was the head of a powerful Russian mafia group, but was exonerated and released two years later after evidence was not enough to prove much. The global extent of Russian organized crime was not realized until Ludwig "Tarzan" Fainberg was arrested in January 1997, primarily because of arms dealing. In 1990, Fainberg moved from Brighton Beach to Miami and opened up a strip club called Porky's, which soon became
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