Sunday, May 31, 2009

Russia’s ‘Al Capone’ sneers at his trial

A ONE-ARMED multi-millionaire, who is alleged to be the last of the Russian crime bosses of the 1990s to stay in business, has gone on trial in Moscow, accused of ordering a botched attempt to murder a rival in his silver Rolls-Royce.

Vladimir Barsukov, 53, who is rumoured to have had links in the past to Vladimir Putin, the Russian prime minister, is also charged with setting up a crime syndicate once seen as the most powerful mafia gang in St Petersburg, the country’s crime capital in the years after the fall of communism.

At the height of his power he had 2,000 foot soldiers under his command, security experts say.

Read full article here: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article6395870.ece

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

A Mobster Trial, and a Flash of a Violent Past

T. PETERSBURG, Russia — Vladimir S. Barsukov has been called St. Petersburg’s “night governor.”

A leader of one of the country’s most powerful criminal syndicates, the one-armed mobster — who has a bullet lodged in his chest from a failed assassination attempt — amassed authority and influence through the bloody gang wars of the 1990s and once rivaled St. Petersburg’s elected leaders for control over Russia’s imperial capital.

Now, Mr. Barsukov is on trial in Moscow, charged with illegal corporate raiding, extortion, fraud and attempted murder, among other crimes. His arrest by itself appears to be a victory for Russian authorities over a remaining vestige of the powerful criminal clans that once held this city hostage at gunpoint.

Read full article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/14/world/europe/14mobster.html?_r=2&ref=world