Izmailovo organized criminal group: the oldest grouping of modern Russia
There is an opinion that the "dashing 90s" with their bandits and gangs have long ended and are in the past. However, it is not. It would be more accurate to say that they did not end, but only changed. Those who at that time wore leather jackets and had a reputation as bandits, over time only changed into expensive suits and began to call themselves "honest businessmen." AND story The Izmaylovsky organized crime group, which will be discussed in this article, clearly confirms this.
First steps
In the mid-1980s, crime boss Oleg Ivanov moved from Kazan to the Moscow region of Izmailovo, where he soon united several youth criminal groups under his rule. Initially, they hunted robberies and robberies. The number of the new group gradually grew and by the end of the 1980s it amounted to several hundred people, divided into small brigades.
At first, the new gang consisted only of local punks, but soon former employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and veterans of the Afghan war joined it. One of these veterans was the newly demobilized 22-year-old Anton Malevsky.
Malevsky came from a family of intellectuals. His father was the famous scientist Viktor Shteinberg, who, in addition to authoring many scientific papers, also served as deputy director of the Institute of Seismology of the Academy of Sciences.
Already in the late 1980s, Oleg Ivanov gradually retired, and Malevsky became the new leader of the organized criminal group.
Anton Malevsky
Several hundred people, many of whom had combat experience, were a serious force. Izmailovsky and Golyanovskiy districts, as well as several villages, soon came under their control, all establishments and enterprises of which paid tribute to the Izmailovskys. Seeing such a rapid growth of the gang, influential criminal authorities Mikhail Chernoy (Misha-Krysha) and Alimzhan Tokhtakhunov (Taiwanchik) joined it. Their extensive connections and rich criminal experience made the Izmailovsky group even more influential.
Mikhail Chernoy
New Frontier
At this time, the capital was flooded with numerous Caucasian organized crime groups, seeking to put under their control the most profitable points and thus deserved universal hatred. Therefore, the choice of the main enemy for the Izmailovites was obvious, especially since the Afghan veterans were also eager to settle scores with the highlanders.
In the confrontation that began, the Caucasians quickly began to lose ground. Several casinos, shopping centers, part of the Bykovo airport, and the Shchelkovsky bus station came under the control of the Izmailovites.
In this confrontation between the Izmailovo organized criminal group and the Caucasians, the employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs almost did not interfere. Moreover, information soon appeared about the close cooperation of the Izmaylovskys with law enforcement agencies and the FSB. The situation was quite beneficial for the security forces when some gangs are destroyed by the hands of others, conditionally “their” gangs. Therefore, it is also not surprising that weapon, ammunition, information about competitors, and sometimes IDs of special services officers, the Izmaylovskys received with the active assistance of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the FSB.
Izmailovo in the 1990s
The following episode eloquently testifies to the increased influence of the Izmailovites. In January 1994, operatives tried to detain the Izmaylovsky authority Alexander Afanasyev (Afonya) and several of his people. They put up armed resistance, a chase ensued with a gunfight.
During the chase, the bandits' jeep jumped into the oncoming lane and collided with a Zhiguli, in which two people died on the spot. The bandits were also injured, they were arrested, machine guns and grenades were found in the car. It seemed that a long term for those arrested could not be avoided. As a result, a criminal case was opened, but ... against the operatives themselves who detained the bandits. Allegedly for the fact that they exceeded their official powers. The bandits were released, the death of two people and the shootout with the police remained unpunished for them.
In addition to criminal activities, the leaders of organized crime groups were also engaged in legal business. Since 1993 Taiwanchik has known Shamil Tarpishchev, Yeltsin's personal tennis coach. So the Izmailovskys got a direct access to the president, all issues with which were resolved only after two handshakes.
Taiwanchik and Shamil Tarpishchev
Yeltsin and Tarpishchev
Thanks to such connections, in the same year, the Izmaylovskys received a lease on the port of Lomonosov near St. Petersburg, through which alcohol and cigarettes were supplied to the country, which brought huge profits.
In 1994, when the gang wars in Moscow were in full swing and major authorities were being killed one after another, Malevsky decides to leave for a safer place - to Israel. While there, he continued to manage the group through his deputy Sergei Aksyonov (Aksyon), who remained in Russia.
It should be noted that despite the long absence of the leader in the country, no one even tried to challenge his power. Unlike many other gangs, the Izmaylovskaya organized criminal group was distinguished by internal cohesion, which also helped it to avoid internecine wars.
Perhaps Malevsky would have lived in Israel for a long time, but after a few years he starts having problems. First, an unsuccessful attempt was made on him, and after that the Israeli special services became interested in his personality. Having found out who he was, in 1998 his Israeli passport was canceled and he was convincingly asked to leave the country.
Malevsky returned to Russia. By that time, most of the Izmaylovskys' competitors were already dead, there was complete mutual understanding with the authorities, and the activities of the organized crime group headed by him also expanded into the aluminum business. One after another, the group had new factories both in the Urals and in other regions. In some cases they were pressed by force, in others Malevsky forced the former owners to sell them at half price. Knowing that those who refused such deals were often found dead, they agreed to such conditions.
The authorities of the Izmailovo organized criminal group. In the center - Chernoy and Taiwanchik
The authority of Anton Malevsky was so high that if racketeers visited any of his enterprises, the mention of his name alone forced them to abandon their plans.
It seemed that now all problems have been solved, and the 34-year-old crime boss, as well as a major businessman Malevsky, has a cloudless future ahead. But, apparently, from a lack of adrenaline, he became interested in parachuting, and during one of the jumps in 2001 in South Africa, the parachute turned out to be faulty, and Malevsky crashed. The new leader of the Izmailovo organized crime group was his deputy Sergei Aksenov.
Khaidarov's testimony
Jalol Khaydarov is the former owner of the Kachkanar GOK and oversees the Izmaylovsky factories in the Urals. For a long time he was a partner and ally of the Izmailovo leaders, but in 2000 he quarreled with them and fled first to Israel and then to Germany. There, he gave the police very interesting and detailed testimony about the activities of the Izmailovo organized criminal group, about their business methods and connections with government officials. All this is accompanied by numerous photographs and documents. The full version of his testimony is in the public domain, everyone can read it if they wish, but here I will give only a couple of quotes:
“Since 1993, I have been a partner of Iskander Makhmudov, Mikhail Cherny and Anton Malevsky. Iskander and I were in charge of trading at Firma Blonde and others. By that time, this company was engaged in the import and export of non-ferrous metals, primarily aluminum and copper. The central office of the company was in Moscow. The company was registered in the Cayman Islands. The owner of the company was Mikhail Cherny. Cherny and Malevsky were responsible for the company's political contacts, as well as contacts with law enforcement agencies. I mean by this the police, the FSB and other intelligence and law enforcement agencies ...
The people involved in conflict resolution under Malevsky worked in teams. The size of the brigade varied from case to case. We could talk about the number of 3 people or 100 people. One of the foremen of the Izmailovo group, who was involved in resolving conflicts, was Alexander Afanasyev. He was the right hand of Sergei Aksyonov and Anton Malevsky, who then led the Izmailovo group. Afanasiev's activity was mainly to put pressure on businessmen in order to collect debts from them or carry out racketeering ... Conflict resolution also included the use of violence. I learned this from conversations with Malevsky, Cherny and Makhmudov ...
Malevsky and Cherny were business partners in equal shares, they shared the profits among themselves. However, Chernoy had access to the finances of not only the joint organization, but also the Izmailovsky group.
In fact, the money obtained by committing crimes, mainly by Malevsky and Aksyonov, was invested in Chernoy's enterprises. Here we are talking mainly about the purchase of raw materials, shares or entire parts of these enterprises.
The people involved in conflict resolution under Malevsky worked in teams. The size of the brigade varied from case to case. We could talk about the number of 3 people or 100 people. One of the foremen of the Izmailovo group, who was involved in resolving conflicts, was Alexander Afanasyev. He was the right hand of Sergei Aksyonov and Anton Malevsky, who then led the Izmailovo group. Afanasiev's activity was mainly to put pressure on businessmen in order to collect debts from them or carry out racketeering ... Conflict resolution also included the use of violence. I learned this from conversations with Malevsky, Cherny and Makhmudov ...
Malevsky and Cherny were business partners in equal shares, they shared the profits among themselves. However, Chernoy had access to the finances of not only the joint organization, but also the Izmailovsky group.
In fact, the money obtained by committing crimes, mainly by Malevsky and Aksyonov, was invested in Chernoy's enterprises. Here we are talking mainly about the purchase of raw materials, shares or entire parts of these enterprises.
Jalol Haydarov
Also of interest is Khaidarov's statement about the close cooperation of the Izmaylovskys with the then Minister of Internal Affairs Vladimir Rushailo:
“In February 2000, Cherny, Malevsky and Makhmudov made new false accusations against me and involved law enforcement agencies. They received support from the Russian intelligence bureau of the FSB and Rushailo, then Interior Minister. This support was supported by bribes and kickbacks. Rushailo also received money from Blond Investments to cover up the crimes committed by Malevsky."
Contemporaneity
The Izmailovo group continues to exist in our time. And not only exists, but also retains its former power, owning enterprises in many regions, from Kaliningrad to the Far East. It will soon celebrate its 40th anniversary, which means that it is the oldest operating organized criminal group in Russia. Its leaders over the past 20 years, since the death of Malevsky, have not changed, they are all alive and at large. Most of them continue to live and conduct legal business in Russia, only Mikhail Chernoy moved to Israel and retired.
Some of them, such as Taiwanchik, who is the author of three books and is a member of the Writers' Union, sometimes even give interviews to journalists. In a 2019 interview, he stated:
“Yes, they call me a crime boss, but in my life I have not committed a single crime. Maybe there were some errors, but at least I was not caught on them. You prove that I stole, killed or something else. I have an honest business."
Periodically there were loud scandals, during which new details of the group's activities became known. So, in 2008-2012, a trial was held in London between Mikhail Cherny and oligarch Oleg Deripaska. During the proceedings, it turned out that already in the 2000s, Deripaska annually contributed $ 170 million to the common fund of the Izmaylovskys. The trial ended with the oligarch agreeing to pay Cherny $400 million.
Another incident that drew attention to the group occurred in November 2017. Then in Moscow City celebrated his anniversary, one of the leaders of the Izmailovsky Dmitry Pavlov (Pavlik). He is known not only as a businessman, but also as a doctor of law, wrote a monograph, is a holder of the Orders of Friendship and Honor and the church orders of Sergius of Radonezh II and III degrees.
260 people were invited to his anniversary, including major crime bosses. Grigory Leps sang for the audience.
However, this meeting of "writers and scientists" in the style of the "dashing 90s" ended with a major shootout and wounding 8 people. Pavlov's guards came into conflict with the Dagestanis. As it soon turned out, two of Pavlov's guards who were wounded were active members of the Russian Guard.
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