Power play is a hockey term, the Russian equivalent of which is “playing
in the majority”. And I don’t think I need to explain what the Mafia is …
The well-known CBC crime reporter, Lyndon MacIntyre, has made a film
about how the “Russian Mafia” gave the works to Russian hockey stars that
played or still play in Canada
and the United States.
Work on the project began in 1998. That’s when I met the film’s director, Neil
Docherty. Neil and I were a world apart in our understanding of the problem and
even the term “the Russian Mafia” itself. He imagined Russian “gangsters” as
tall, fair-haired athletes in long black coats, speeding through the snowy
streets of Moscow
in their BMWs. I had a different perspective on these people. One way or
another, I hope Neil found my stories and advice useful. During one of our
meetings, Neil mentioned a person whose interview had essentially made the film
– Corporal Reginald King of the East European Organized Crime Division of
Canada’s Royal Mounted Police. King had spent months, if not years,
investigating Russian criminal leaders who had settled in Canada, like the crime boss Sliva, and those who
called these leaders from Moscow,
New York, Israel
and other countries. Some notes from King’s archive were used in the film. Seven
years ago the documentary was released in North America
by PBS. As we can see, it took a long time to make the film--so long, in fact,
that one of its main characters died during the making of the film…
So,
…One of the most prominent Russian crime bosses, Vyacheslav Sliva, 55,
died in March 2000 inMoscow. Till
his very last days, Sliva was in touch with what was happening in Russia’s
criminal world and was actively involved in its dealings. According to Interior
Ministry officers, he was one of the founders of “big criminal politics”. Over
three dozen of Russia’s most
influential criminal leaders came to Moscow’s
Pyatnitskoye cemetery to pay their respects to their general in a funeral
ceremony that cost the mob almost 50,000 U.S. dollars. Moscow’s mobsters say (and police echo them)
that “the era of old thieves ended with Sliva’s death”. .
Vyacheslav Sliva, an Assyrian, was born and raised in Moscow, not far from Maryina Roshcha, a
district known as a criminal hotbed. He was life-long friends with Vyacheslav
Ivankov (aka Yaponchik), the late Kvantrishvili brothers, and other notorious
crime bosses. According to officers in Moscow’s
anti-organized crime division of that era, Sliva started building his
reputation in the criminal world as a member of the Yaponchik gang. In the
1970s, the gang specialized in “busting” bogus policemen (criminals wearing
police uniform who seized their property), which was considered to be a daring
feat in the underworld. At the same time, Sliva’s authority was growing among
Assyrians, and with time he became one of their acknowledged leaders. He ruled
them for no less than three decades!
Before the word “racketeering” even entered the Russian language,
Sliva’s mobsters skinned shoe polishers in Moscow, where there were several hundred of
them at the time. In addition, the Assyrians arranged for stolen goods and gold
to be sold through many small shoe shops. Later the gang gained control of the
burgeoning gambling business, drug trafficking and several Caucasian
restaurants in Moscow.
In the early 1990s, Sliva realized it was time to go underground, having
sensed that trouble was brewing. And in 1991 he was, in fact, sentenced to 12
years in prison for accessory to murder. In 1995, Sliva was paroled for ill
health and good behavior. He quickly acquired a foreign travel passport and
left for Canada
on a guest visa. But he did not manage to settle abroad like many of his
colleagues before him. In 1995, U.S.
authorities arrested his close friend and partner, Vyacheslav Ivankov
(akaYaponchik). FBI agents found the rhymed word pair, “Slava-Sliva”, and a
Canadian telephone number in his address book. The evidence was handed over to
the Canadian Royal Mounted Police and immigration authorities, which then sent
an inquiry to the Russian Interior Ministry. Having received their response,
they decided to deport Sliva. One of the reasons for expelling him from Canada was that
he had lied to immigration authorities: Silva had not reported his criminal
past, but he did provide the name of a nonexistent wife on his form.
In early June 1997, Sliva returned home and was met at Sheremetyevo-2
Airport by anti-organized crime police, who took him to their office on the
Garden Ring and told him “to be a good boy” because they would be watching his
every move. Sliva heeded the warning and started running his criminal
enterprise exclusively through trusted associates. He constantly changed flats
and practically never showed up at his apartment in Krasnobogatyrskaya Str.
where he was officially registered.
According to the Interior Ministry, Sliva died from sarcoma of the
brain, i.e. natural causes …
But let’s return to Sliva’s life in Canada.
In late 1995, Canadian police, having received a tip from the U.S. FBI
and the Russian Interior Ministry, opened an unofficial investigation into his
activities. At around the same time, it came to light that two big Russian
crime bosses had ordered Sliva killed. This information was supported by a
series of assassinations of Assyrian leaders in Moscow
that had taken place between 1995 and 1997, including two of Sliva’s nephews:
crime boss Eduard Khachaturov (aka the Rat) and David Khachaturov, the actual owner
of the GoldenPalace casino. According to Canadian
police inspector John Nealy, Sliva was “one of the most powerful Russian
criminal figures operating in Canada”.
Canadian police believe that he tried to bring all Russian-speaking mobsters in
the country under his control, using his ties with Yaponchik, who had settled
in the U.S.
In addition, the police concluded that Sliva was forced to leave Russia not just
because of the threat on his life but also because he needed to build a
partnership with international criminal communities. As a result, Canadian
authorities decided to get rid of Sliva.
On July
18, 1997, Sliva was arrested and, in handcuffs and shackles,
appeared before an immigration court in Toronto
only four days later. The court ruled to expel him without delay.
Sliva’s voice-recordings were kept. “Mafia Power Play” used only some of
the recordings made by Reg King, since my friend Neil Docherty was only
interested in how “the Russian Mafiosi offered protection” to ice-hockey
players from Russia, who were earning huge salaries in Canada and the U.S. at
that time.
But Sliva’sdiscussions and
dealings were not limited to this. He was also interested in metallurgy …
The Canadian Royal Mounted Police noted that Sliva and Russian
businessman Mikhail Chernoi (born January 16, 1952, aka Chyorny, or Black) were
“dealing in metals”. Chernoi’s business partners – Anton Malevsky, leader of
the Izmailovo organized crime group, crime boss Sergei Aksyonov (aka Aksen),
and criminal leaders Salim Kirgizbayevich Abduvaliyev and Bakhtier Eliyev of
Tashkent – were intimately involved in those dealings. Also mentioned in police
reports was Chernoi’s partner in the U.S., Arik Kislin, who was and
still is of interest to the U.S. FBI. Interestingly, FBI agents first came
across Arik’s name in January 1994 when police found his phone number in the
notebook of Russian boxer and--the FBI claims--“gangster”, Oleg Karatayev,
whose dead body was discovered in BrightonBeach that winter.
Isn’t it a jolly group of “metallurgists”?
Intelligence reports reserve a special place for Arik Kislin, the man
behind the company Blonde Management, which is mentioned in every annual report
on the history of the “Russian Mafia” in the U.S.Mikhail Chernoi can argue, of course, that he
invested large amounts in this firm and managed its revenues, but, I am afraid,
FBI analyst Jane Vavruska will disagree …
Moreover, the FBI claims that Blonde Management, along with Newtel
Company Inc., MGK International, and High Tech International, was involved in
laundering millions of dollars from Russia.
This story is well known to officials from the Russian Interior
Ministry’s Investigation Committee. Criminal Case No. 81659, dealing with
charges of fraud (Article 93 prime of the RF Code of Criminal Procedure), was
opened against Newtel in 1992 by Investigator Sergei Glushenkov of the Russian
Interior Ministry’s Investigation Committee. A search was launched for the
company’s senior executives, Portnov, Karagozsky, and Lev Breskin. All three were
hiding in the U.S. Portnov then came to Russia and was arrested. He is dead
now. But that doesn’t matter, because the criminal case was closed by
Investigator Glushenkov a long time ago, as were cases of counterfeited letters
of advice involving Mikhail Chernoi.
Quite a history of Russian metallurgy! Full of “black spots”. And who
decided the fate of the country’s aluminum industry at that time? Let me give a
few of the many names: crime boss Viktor Airapetov, aka Ryazanets (killed in
1995), the crime barons Rustik and Zakhary Kalashov,...
One has to hear Russian “godfathers” discuss tolling, exchange aluminum
production recipes, and decide alumina supply issues. Such was the history of
Russian business in the early 1990s. Some may say that nothing’s changed. But
that’s not true.
Almost all of the “metallurgists” whose names Officer Reginald King
meticulously entered in his notebook are safe and sound. Some live in Moscow, others in Israel. By the way, Russian crooks
discussed the advantages of the Promised Land with special delight during their
telephone conversations, suggesting that one could do whatever one wishes in Israel without
being arrested or deported. Just look, this buddy of ours is there and so is
this one!
Could it be that the Mafia power play is still going on? Could they
still be “playing in the majority?”
Sliva:… Oh, I almost forgot. I
got a phone call, and do you know what they offered? I wrote it down here. I
have never seen anything like it before, but it turns out to be connected with
metals. Look what it says here … a-lu-mina …
Lyonya: Alumina?
S: Yes. Does it ring a bell to you?
L: No. …
S: It’s…they want it in Krasnoyarsk.
This is what … this alumina … this is also connected with metals …
L: I will find that out today …
S: And they’re offering 60% … Old Man will take care of it in Krasnoyarsk, and 40 is
yours. They say it’s f…cking good money …
L: Oh, yeah? Good. I will find that out, Slava …
S: Will you? Write it down …
L: I’ll remember it, Slava. Alumina: Al and mina, it’s easy to remember
… And one other thing, Slava. I will put off all business in the morning to go
there and find out how much that stuff costs and where …
S: Good luck …
L: Okay, let’s talk in the morning. I’ll call you or you me … I embrace
you, Slava …
S: It’s probably very hard, I swear … And I have no idea what that is …
L: I’ll tell you what it is right now, Slava. Look … you could just meet
a man there, I mean the plant director, and that’s all, nothing else to do … No
need to delay things… Watch carefully and remember … Two tons of alumina, two
tons, make one ton of aluminum …
S: Oh, got it …
L: Do you? We only need our raw materials to be taken by the plant, and
that’s it … We will make the supplies, damn it! That’s all …
S: Look … there is a good plant for that …
L: A metallurgical one?
S: Right, a processing plant … It could be easier to do it with them …
L: Well, talk with Old Man, maybe he knows a way to get there, and we
will get it going then, Slava …
S: Well, I did, I swear … And he says, Where is it? I say, It’s
fertilizers of some sort …
L: No, it’s not fertilizers, Slava. Are you crazy? It’s dirty ore
containing aluminum. I spent a day doing research on that, you see? … And look,
the man keeps 40% of the revenue for himself and we get 60%…
S: I see …
L: Do you? … It’s a lot of money, Slava. I mean, it’s not just a lot of
money, it’s a hell of a lot of money … It mentioned Bratsk,
Krasnoyarsk,
some Solikamsk. Byk (Bull) can take care of it in Krasnoyarsk … Everyone thinks he bared his
teeth to Anton there … And that’s great …
S: Weren’t they friends? …
L: That’s not always the way with them … They are friends first and then
kill each other or drown each other in a river, you know ….
S: I can send you a fax, if you want. Just tell me where to in Israel,
give me the address … It’s as if you were going there on business … all the
papers are here, and that sort of thing … just for three or four days …
N: Well, everything is fine on my end …
S: That’s it … I have been offered Israeli passports for 35, you see? …
N: Listen, what 35 are you talking about? You can get it for three
rubles nowadays … The easiest way to go there is get married …Why the hell pay 35? Are you crazy? And then
they get you and put your name on the records, and start digging … That’s not
the way to do it where … Do you see the point? …
S: Right …
N: That’s right. I have been offered it for three rubles… your guy, Rat,
did!
S: But that was a long time ago …
N: About a year and a half ago … Three rubles … And now it’s thirty five
… They must be crazy … But then, it’s worth doing it …
N: What is good about it, Slava, is that there are a million and a
halfRussians living here, who have
emigrated here. It’s a country where you can commit an economic crime and they
won’t extradite you; or you can steal money, in a cheeky kinda way or whatever
and hole up in Israel,
but they say, We don’t extradite …
S: Well, that’s about the only good thing …
N: Listen, there are lots of babes here, sluts, all Jews, you know, they
are an easy lay …and love money … He’s got a hangout there, but I haven’t been
there and haven’t seen it … It’s getting crowded here with everyone coming in
…Anton, Luchok, and others on the their way… Well, I’ll go and see … We can’t
let it get too loose, you know … they are getting out of their way here. And
get on your tail, Mishka, real hard …
S: Well, someone must have squealed on him …
N: His … he is just too uppity …
S: Uppity… aren’t you holding something back …
N: Me? No… Well, I’ll keep an eye on him anyway …
S: Does that one speak?
N: He doesn’t, but they don’t know that … anyway, I say, you knew him,
you were fiends with him -- may he rest in peace. I say, It’s up to you, but
you’ll have problems, so keep your distance … He won’t be much of …
S: Has he got a place of his own too?
N: No, not that one. He is trying to get himself an ID … listen, brother
… wait a moment … well, that’s how it is. Anton has bought a flat …
S: Anton, has he?
N: Yeah, it’s some sort of a mansion. He lives there. Well, it’s
actually a villa. Yes, a villa...
S: Is it a good one?
N: Who knows? He shoots the crap every day … Well, they’ve got
everything arranged there …
S: We could do too … and get it going…
N: And maybe think about it because there is no way we can go back there
…we need to get everyone together here
for a couple of years, you know … We can’t rely on Russia because it’s there
today, but tomorrow they may f…cking forget us …
S: Absolutely …
N: So, it would be good if we could get at least twenty every month … I
mean enough living without dough, right?
V:I was calling you, but no one
answered, your mobile …
S: Really?
V: Listen, I talked with this dude yesterday …with Vladik … You were right, it’s alumina … It’s
used as a raw material for aluminum. You were right.
S: So what?
V: It’s very interesting. There are two Chyorny bothers working at one
of the plants you mentioned …
S: I know …
V: Do you know them?
S; I do!
V: If they don’t get in the way … But he says they won’t let it go so
easily …
S: They won’t?
V: No! If we find a way to deal with them, we will go and take care of
it …
S: Listen there …
V: Yes!
S: Are we meeting them tomorrow?
V: Yes …
S: So we will send him over there then … to America …
V: He says, I ’d be happy to go there but … everything will go on such a
level there … so it’s darn good …
S: As I said to you, I was told by people, Vitalik, I don’t care … it’s
all the same to me. People told me, “We are even ready to give you sixty…”
V: Right. Let’s call the plant from here … before he goes there …
S: No, we won’t do it that way … We will do it this way: we will talk to
him … Then I will call Slavka …Slavka
will meet him. Slavka will have a chat with the Chyorny brothers, got it?
V: Okay …
S: Because they work … with the guys from Izmailovo …
V: Yeah, I’ve got it. They do work with the guys from Izmailovo …
S: Look, if you want, you can make a call through Taivanets, or maybe
Alik will have a word with Anton … Do you see the point? He seems to be getting
along with them quite well … I do too, but, you know … I can make a call too …
V: Yes, but we can’t take it away from them …
S: Exactly. … We will now … talk with this guy and talk with Germany … just
to find out how much they could be interested … I mean we’ve got to interest
them, too …
V: Sure …
S: Get it? So, we will get in touch by phone tomorrow and you’ll take me
to him, I will give all this stuff to him and let him take care of it then … That’s
all. Good luck, bro!
V: I will give you a call tomorrow morning, directly. Bye!
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