A group of thieves in law from the former USSR was neutralized in the USA

Фото: Depositphotos

The Prosecutor's Office for the Southern District of New York has charged 33 people from the former USSR. According to investigators, they operated as part of several organized crime groups in New York (mainly in the Russian-speaking area of ​​Brighton Beach) and the states of Florida, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Nevada (specifically in Las Vegas), as well as “abroad ", writes "Currently,«.

The structure in the documents of the prosecutor's office is called a “Russian-Georgian” criminal syndicate, organized by several “thieves in law.” Members of the syndicate, natives of Georgia, Russia and Ukraine, are accused of extortion, fraud, kidnapping, debt collection, robbery, contract killings, drug trafficking and arms trafficking.

• Avtandil Khurtsidze (“Kickboxer”)
• Akakiy Ubilava (“Ako”)
• Hamlet Uglawa
• Mamuka Chaganava
• Mikheil Toradze
• Nazo Gaprindashvili (“Anna”)
• Arthur Vinokurov (“Red”)
• Evgeny Melman
• Timur Suyunov
• Zurab Buziashvili
• Giorgi Lomishvili
• Azer Arslanok
• Bakai Marat-Uulu
• Ivan Afanasyev (“Vanya”)
• Andrey Petrushin
• Denis Savgir
• Diego Gaboniya
• Levan Makashvili
• Sergey Gindinov
• Semyon Saraidarov (“Sammi”)
• Vache Govganisyan and others.

40-year-old Shulaya is known as “Brother”, “Roma” and “Razhden Pitersky”. Previously, he was detained in Europe in the summer of 2013 as a result of an operation that Europol carried out on the territory of several countries at once - Italy, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Portugal, France and Hungary. Then 18 criminal leaders from the former USSR were arrested at once, including 13 thieves in law from the Kutaisi criminal group, influential in the post-Soviet space, led by 51-year-old Merab Dzhangveladze (Merab Sukhumsky). Shulaya was a member of his inner circle.

37-year-old Dzhanashvili, known as “Zura,” is named in the investigation documents as “Brother’s” right hand.

The youngest members of the group were 23-24 years old, but most of the accused were between 35 and 40 years old.

The prosecutor's office names the following crimes in which members of the group are accused:

• contract killing
• criminal organization
• racket and protection of illegal card games in Brighton Beach
• soliciting money from losing debtors
• abduction of local business owners in Brighton Beach
• organizing an illegal night club that was a cover for drug distribution
• robberies (women from the criminal syndicate posed as prostitutes, “picked up” clients, after which they poisoned them with chloroform and other substances until they became unconscious and robbed them)
• cargo abduction (in particular, a large cargo of chocolate products weighing more than 3 thousand tons was stolen)
• casino fraud (criminals hacked slot machines at casinos in Atlantic City and Philadelphia using hacker devices, which allowed them to get an illegal win)
• drug trafficking
• cigarette smuggling
• trade in counterfeit goods (fakes)
• production of false passports, checks and financial documents
• giving bribes to law enforcement officials.

And about. FBI Deputy Director William Swinney emphasized that members of the group “tried to earn as much as possible” and showed interest in all aspects of the criminal business, as shown by the long list of charges brought against them. He also noted that the syndicate's leaders promised protection to their subordinates, and they "believed that US laws did not apply to them." The investigation into the group's activities was conducted not only by the New York police, but also by the FBI and the Border Control Agency.

Investigators claim that Shulaya not only led the group, but also participated in the operations himself - he organized illegal betting and games, “extorted” money from debtors, kidnapped people, and also organized the transportation of stolen goods and credit card fraud. For the leader of a group of this level, direct participation in criminal activity is rare, since criminals of this level usually try to “retire” from business.

On the main charges, members of the syndicate face up to 20 years in prison. However, 25-year-old Bakai Marat-Uulu and 26-year-old Nikolos Dzhikia are also charged with contract murder, for which they face life imprisonment, and Lomishvili, Marat-Uulu, Petrushin and Gindinov are also charged with trafficking cocaine and heroin in Manhattan and Brooklyn. This could give them up to another 40 years in prison.

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