Subscribe to Print Edition | Sun., January 27, 2008 Shvat 20, 5768 | | Israel Time: 21:43 (EST+7) web haaretz.com   Back to Homepage Rosner's Domain Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Advertising Books Arts & Leisure Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File

Alleged Russian crime boss Semion Mogilevich. (Archives) Last update - 21:42 27/01/2008 Moscow police nab suspected Israeli-Russian mafia boss By Yossi Melman, Haaretz Correspondent Tags: Russian mafia  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. Advertisement He was detained under the name Sergei Schneider, believed to be one of his many aliases. In the 1990s, Mogilevich was considered to be one of the main targets of Israeli intelligence, which worked closely with foreign police forces in investigating and locating Mogilevich. Moscow police say he is suspected of tax evasion reaching $2 million. According to documents from police headquarters in Britain, Czech Republic, Hungary, and the U.S., his capital is worth hundreds of millions of dollars. In the past few years it was believed Mogilevich was hiding in Russia. The alleged mafia boss frequently uses assumed names and holds passports from several different countries. The 61-year-old Mogilevich was born in the Ukraine, and is thought to be one of the Russian oligarchs who used the former Soviet Union's collapse to make his fortune, by buying up state companies that were sold off cheaply. However, as opposed to other oligarchs, he acted in methods described by international police as "criminal acts." Mogilevich's name was connected with the huge money-laundering scandal a few years ago at the Bank of New York. According to sources in the Israel Police, Mogilevich was not particularly active in Israel, coming to the country primarily to receive citizenship and a passport. Israel was recently connected with the mafia boss, however, in an affair first revealed by the Moscow Times newspaper in 2003. The paper published a report claiming that companies founded by Mogilevich in Hungary and in Romania were connected with a money-laundering scheme in a big gas deal, which was intended for Poland but was carried out with a Russian energy holding company. Related articles: Police question Gusinsky over money-laundering scandal Businessman funneled $500,000 to Lieberman associates in 2001 Bookmark to del.icio.us   Officer convicted A military court convicts an IDF officer who led troops in a West Bank rampage. A different Anne Frank A Dutch Jewish condemns the distribution of a postcard of Anne Frank wearing kaffiyeh.   1.   Mafia boss 18:37  |  Marco Benatar 27/01/08

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