Moscow’s Criminal Groups Playing by New and More Dangerous Rules

Like Don Carleone at the end of the Godfather films, organized crime criminal groups in the Moscow increasingly are moving into legitimate businesses and government even while retaining ties with their criminal base. But because there is no single authority, the groups are increasingly fighting among themselves, according to Russian officials.

The Russian media over the last few days have been focusing on the state of organized crime in the wake of the assassination attempt against one of the most powerful criminal clan bosses, Vyacheslav Ivankov, knowsn as “the Japanese,” who now lies near death in a Moscow hospital.

Read full article here: http://www.newcriminologist.com/article.asp?nid=2166

We've 'nothing to fear' from Russian mafia

THE Russian Deputy Prime Minister yesterday assured Irish businesses that they have nothing to fear from the Russian mafia.

Dmitri Kozak, visiting yesterday as part of the biggest Russian trade mission in a decade, said the Russian government had done a lot to tackle the problem.

"Russian companies and foreign companies operating in Russia face the same amount of criminality as in any other country. So the problem I believe from the government's side has been tackled," he said.

Read full article here: http://www.independent.ie/national-news/weve-nothing-to-fear-from-russian-mafia-1660291.html

Ganglords 'targeting debt-ridden developers'

THE Government was urged yesterday to strengthen the law to prevent "Irish criminals and the Russian mafia" entering the debt collection business.

The demand from Fine Gael came amid controversy over several convicted criminals, including Martin 'The Viper' Foley, who have entered the debt collection business.

But the Government says the Garda has adequate powers and resources to deal with any criminal activity.

Irish criminals and the Russian mafia are targeting debt-ridden developers, according to Fine Gael justice spokesman Charlie Flanagan.

Read full article: http://www.independent.ie/national-news/ganglords-targeting-debtridden-developers-1641110.html

Berlin is the centre of the Russian mafia in Europe

It’s called Russian Mafia. But the organized crime with culprits with origins from the former Soviet Union has nothing in common with the Italian Cosa Nostra. In the European continent Berlin is regarded to be the centre of that criminal organization. The police of Berlin investigates discreetly, with tact and sensitivity.

The police regards the German capital – beside London and NewYork – as the centre of the Russian organized crime in Western Europe. For the first time the Regional Criminal Investigation Department published in which dimension we have to imagine this criminal organization: “In 2007 we could spot ten groups from states of the former Soviet Union with altogether 95 suspects and last year we established 14 of those groups with 167 suspects”, says Bernd Finger, leading chief-inspector from the section of organized crime.

Read full article here: http://flarenetwork.org/blog/2009/02/03/berlin-is-the-centre-of-the-russian-mafia-in-europe/

Berlin a Russian mafia hub

BERLIN, Nov. 26 (UPI) -- Berlin has become a European hub for the Russian mafia, according to security experts in the German capital.

If you own a BMW X5 or a Porsche Cayenne, you shouldn't park it in the streets of Berlin too often, because these fancy SUVs top the list from which the Russian mafia is "shopping" in Germany's capital. The criminals cruise the rich neighborhoods until they find their car of choice, then open, short-circuit and load it onto a truck -- in less than two minutes. Chances are the owners won't see their cars again.

"Such vehicles are brought into nearby body shops … where they are tuned or taken apart completely," Bernd Finger, the head of the Berlin Criminal Office, said earlier this month in an interview with the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper. "From there they are taken to intermediate traders in Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovenia. And from there they are taken into the buyer's country, most often Russia or Asia."

Read full article here: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2008/11/26/Berlin-a-Russian-mafia-hub/UPI-11891227727020/

Has the Russian Mafia Stolen Over 500,000 Bank and Credit Card Accounts?

Researchers at RSA's FraudAction Research Lab discovered one of the largest stolen data caches ever. Over the last 30 months a trojan virus, known as Sinowal, Torpig and Mebroot by various anti-virus companies, has stolen 270,000 online banking account credentials and 240,000 credit and debit account numbers. The virus is so sophisticated that it changes constantly to avoid detection by anti-virus programs, in fact, a test of the most recent virus showed that only 10 out of 35 security applications were able to detect it.

Read full article here: http://www.thechicagosyndicate.com/2008/11/has-russian-mafia-stolen-over-500000.html