Failed 'coronation': All participants of notorious mafia gathering in Karlovy Vary identified - Crime Russia
Karlovy Vary, London and Praha, like many parts of Europe and even India, is a playground for Russian gangsters...
Russian mafia groups sit on the other side of the organizational spectrum from Yakuza
Cyrillic everywhere. On the signs of shops and restaurants and posters aimed at tourists, Russian has taken the lead among all the languages and quite often exclusively, with little regard for English, ...Czech Republic: The Russians in Karlovy Vary | European Journal - YouTube
The Russian Mafia owns whole towns in the Czech Republic. What were once beautiful Czech cultural landmarks - living museums comprising Gothic towers, Baroque houses, and Renaissance cathedrals all standing tete-a-tete; spa towns frequented by the great composers and intellectuals of past centuries - are now fronts for the nefarious activities of the Russian mob. Czechs avoid these towns; ask a native what towns you should visit and he will list several, but say you want to visit Karlovy Vary (Carlsbad in German) and he will frown and point to the nearest travel agency. It is easy to spot a mafia front in the capital, Prague; they have a predilection for hotels and jewellery shops. They own casinos, restaurants, and strip joints as well. Look at the prices - if they are listed in dollars, it is a Russian money-laundering facility. The dollar, say Czechs, is the national currency of Russia these days. Or look for a sentry standing a few meters away. He is chain smoking and has obviously got no place to go. He's on the job. Russians are bigger people than Czechs, and they all wear fur, so you could mistake a Mafia sentry for a bear if you are not careful. He is also probably standing sentry for another kind of front - laundering money is the least of mob crimes. They smuggle drugs and weapons and refugees (later demanding tithes from the latter), anything on which hand can be laid within Russia, and increasingly, within the former satellites. They run prostitution rings - the "white meat trade," Czechs call it. They demand protection money from any moderately successful business whose owners have ties to Russia. What is most frightening, however, is that these guys are not the real thing: that Czechs call them "the Mafia" is an index of their fear, not of the real nature of the gang. These guys are not unscrupulous businessmen, bad men in nice suits who love their mothers. They are ex-KGB agents and officers who found themselves catapulted into a capitalist system, and naturally they sold their talents and services to the highest bidder. John le Carre, whose job might have been thought ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union, has recently written a novel, Single & Single, about the "grey mayhem of self-interest" that is the Russian mob, and its domination by former state security officials. Mixed in with the ex-spies, or working for them, there are also the many victims of an economy that recently imploded. About a year ago there was a famous report of a Russian manufacturer of toilet paper who had no cash on payday. He offered his employees the equivalent value of pay in toilet paper. Naturally no one had the means to transport it home, let alone the storage space to keep it . A few hundred dollars' worth of toilet paper? Who wouldn't rather break legs for money?
The Biggest Organized Crime Groups in the World | Fortune
Kleiman conveys to Alex – in terms worthy of Mario Puzo – what he thinks about Mendez and his ilk. According to him, their trick is to make you think you are making all the decisions. Respectfully, Alex points out, isn’t that what you’re doing to me? Ah, replies Kleiman, kindler, gentler as ever: if you let me down, I won’t bury you. He promises to think about Mendez’s proposal. McMafia
McMafia, episode four: Family means everything, so what's next ...
Unlike many TV crime shows, McMafia is not afraid to treat its audience as adults. It is also a very contemporary portrayal of global crime
McMafia: has Alex turned from banker to gangster?
Russian mafia groups reportedly operate in Europe on behalf of the Kremlin | Europe| News and current affairs from around the continent
English toffs and Russian gangsters make McMafia a TV drama with global ambition
Gravestones of The Russian Mafia - Sad Humor
The real McMafia — how London's super-rich Russians compare with the BBC drama
Former Defence exec becomes ACIC's new CIO
Russian mafia groups sit on the other side of the organizational spectrum from Yakuza
Cyrillic everywhere. On the signs of shops and restaurants and posters aimed at tourists, Russian has taken the lead among all the languages and quite often exclusively, with little regard for English, ...Czech Republic: The Russians in Karlovy Vary | European Journal - YouTube
The Russian Mafia owns whole towns in the Czech Republic. What were once beautiful Czech cultural landmarks - living museums comprising Gothic towers, Baroque houses, and Renaissance cathedrals all standing tete-a-tete; spa towns frequented by the great composers and intellectuals of past centuries - are now fronts for the nefarious activities of the Russian mob. Czechs avoid these towns; ask a native what towns you should visit and he will list several, but say you want to visit Karlovy Vary (Carlsbad in German) and he will frown and point to the nearest travel agency. It is easy to spot a mafia front in the capital, Prague; they have a predilection for hotels and jewellery shops. They own casinos, restaurants, and strip joints as well. Look at the prices - if they are listed in dollars, it is a Russian money-laundering facility. The dollar, say Czechs, is the national currency of Russia these days. Or look for a sentry standing a few meters away. He is chain smoking and has obviously got no place to go. He's on the job. Russians are bigger people than Czechs, and they all wear fur, so you could mistake a Mafia sentry for a bear if you are not careful. He is also probably standing sentry for another kind of front - laundering money is the least of mob crimes. They smuggle drugs and weapons and refugees (later demanding tithes from the latter), anything on which hand can be laid within Russia, and increasingly, within the former satellites. They run prostitution rings - the "white meat trade," Czechs call it. They demand protection money from any moderately successful business whose owners have ties to Russia. What is most frightening, however, is that these guys are not the real thing: that Czechs call them "the Mafia" is an index of their fear, not of the real nature of the gang. These guys are not unscrupulous businessmen, bad men in nice suits who love their mothers. They are ex-KGB agents and officers who found themselves catapulted into a capitalist system, and naturally they sold their talents and services to the highest bidder. John le Carre, whose job might have been thought ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union, has recently written a novel, Single & Single, about the "grey mayhem of self-interest" that is the Russian mob, and its domination by former state security officials. Mixed in with the ex-spies, or working for them, there are also the many victims of an economy that recently imploded. About a year ago there was a famous report of a Russian manufacturer of toilet paper who had no cash on payday. He offered his employees the equivalent value of pay in toilet paper. Naturally no one had the means to transport it home, let alone the storage space to keep it . A few hundred dollars' worth of toilet paper? Who wouldn't rather break legs for money?
The Biggest Organized Crime Groups in the World | Fortune
Kleiman conveys to Alex – in terms worthy of Mario Puzo – what he thinks about Mendez and his ilk. According to him, their trick is to make you think you are making all the decisions. Respectfully, Alex points out, isn’t that what you’re doing to me? Ah, replies Kleiman, kindler, gentler as ever: if you let me down, I won’t bury you. He promises to think about Mendez’s proposal. McMafia
McMafia, episode four: Family means everything, so what's next ...
Unlike many TV crime shows, McMafia is not afraid to treat its audience as adults. It is also a very contemporary portrayal of global crime
McMafia: has Alex turned from banker to gangster?
Russian mafia groups reportedly operate in Europe on behalf of the Kremlin | Europe| News and current affairs from around the continent
English toffs and Russian gangsters make McMafia a TV drama with global ambition
Gravestones of The Russian Mafia - Sad Humor
The real McMafia — how London's super-rich Russians compare with the BBC drama
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Former Defence exec becomes ACIC's new CIO
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