In the so-called dashing 90s , racketeering began to actively develop and flourish in Russia. Persons engaged in this business began to unite in stable, united gangs.
One of the largest groups that formed in the late 80s - early 90s was the Solntsevo organized crime group. And despite the fact that about 30 years have passed since its inception, legends still circulate about the activities of this lads.
A bit of history
The specified group was finally formed by 1988 in the territory of the municipal district Solntsevo of the city of Moscow. And in 1990, she was joined by a number of criminal gangs: “Chertanovsky”, “Yasenevsky” and “Cheremushkinsky”. A year later, the described criminal group merged with a rather influential lads from the Orekhovskaya gang.
The indicated coalition was called the Solntsevo-Orekhov group, the leader of which was Sergey Timofeev, nicknamed Sylvester. He was a representative of the Orekhovskaya group, and he also decided on the imminent withdrawal of this group from the Solntsevo-Orekhovskaya group.
According to the operational information of those years, in 1990 about 220 people were part of the named criminal group. Every year the number of active members of the organized crime group increased, and by 1994 there were already about 320 of them.
By the end of the 90s, the Solntsevo lads consisted of 250 members, 180 of whom continued to conduct large-scale criminal activities.
The composition of organized crime groups
The structure of the criminal coalition included fairly well-known groups. It included:
- Orekhovo-Borisovskaya, whose leader was Sergey Timofeev, nicknamed Sylvester, whom we have already mentioned. He was a very authoritative person in criminal circles and a like-minded person of the infamous Michael and Avera.
- Kuntsevskaya: its leader was the vocabulary.
- Kemerovskaya: the leader is Italian.
Spheres of influence
The presence of a large number of active, arrogant and fearless thugs gave the Solntsevo group the opportunity to quickly crush various spheres of entrepreneurial activity and large business.
So, in the 90s, under the so-called roof of this group were the restaurant "Havana" and "Bombay", casino "Maxim", a number of beer bars located on Udaltsova street, as well as the hotel "Salute".
It is worth noting that many gang members began their criminal activities by extorting money from ordinary street thimbles. However, for such a large group, “protection” of ordinary street “scammers” was not a very profitable business. Therefore, over the next year, the Solntsevskaya Mafia gained total control over the gaming business in the Gagarinsky district of Moscow.
"New Horizons"
Further, the Solntsevo brothers began to trade in smuggling, drug trafficking, and the sale of cars and weapons. There were more “crafts” and more serious ones, such as organizing and engaging in prostitution, kidnapping, extortion and murder.
By 1993, the Solntsevskys had reached a new level and, along with the criminal business, were engaged in completely legal activities. Since that time, members of the group began to send large cash flows to the organization of firms and credit organizations. So, by the mid-90s, more than 100 organizations with various statutory activities and 120 banks throughout Russia were opened to representatives of the Solntsevo mafia.
At the same time, the sphere of influence of the group expanded beyond Moscow. Pushkin and Odintsovo districts of the Moscow region were also taken under the “roof”. For example, the gang owned the well-known market in Gorbushka, where the monthly profit from each entrepreneur averaged about $ 500.
Where does the money come from?
Members of the Solntsevskaya organized criminal group tried to extract money from various fields of activity. They crushed the Solntsevo automobile market, taxi drivers working on the territory of the Kiev railway station, Sheremetyevo-2 and Vnukovo. They received money from entertainment establishments located in controlled areas.
The Solntsevo brothers received huge profits from the Cosmos, Universitetskaya, Central Tourist House, Valeri and Maxim casinos. They also roofed merchants trading in the markets of the South-Western region and in Luzhniki.
Capture New Territories
As mentioned above, the described criminal group did not limit its activities only to Moscow and the surrounding area. The Solntsevskaya’s influence quickly spread, for example, to cities such as Murmansk, Arkhangelsk, Tolyatti and others.
The Solntsevo brothers became so powerful that even a number of Baltic, Latvian organized crime groups paid them a "tribute."
For the proceeds of the money, members of the criminal group actively bought property abroad: in Spain, France, Greece, the USA, Cyprus, Poland and Hungary. It is known that the so-called central office was located in the center of Vienna near the Solntsevo mafia. But members of the organized crime group loved to celebrate all significant holidays in Prague.
Leaders of the Solntsevsky
The official leaders of this organized crime group are:
- Sergei Mikhailov, nicknamed Mikhas;
- Victor Averin, nicknamed Avera Sr.
- Alexander Averin, nicknamed Avera Jr. or Sasha-Avera;
- Alexander Fedulov nicknamed Fedul.
It is believed that Mikhas is the founder of the Solntsevo group, since it was he who in the 80s of the last century united the so-called like-minded people under his “wing”. Later it was they who became active members and leaders of the "Solntsevo" brotherhood.
Viktor Averin, who was a close friend of Mikha, took an active part in the formation of the gang. Incidentally, they both met while working as waiters in the restaurant of the Sevastopol Hotel.
Mahas
His criminal debut took place as far back as 1984, when he was convicted of giving false testimonies and embezzlement of property. Five years later, Sergei Mikhailov was again detained by law enforcement officials on suspicion of extortion and possession of weapons. However, this time he managed to avoid a criminal record (they say that thanks to connections in state structures).
In 1993, Mikhas again came into the view of the police. This time he was suspected of involvement in the murder of Valery Vlasov (director of the Valeri casino).
It is noteworthy that, despite a dubious biography, in 1995 Mikhas managed to become an honorary consul in Moscow from Costa Rica. In this position, he did not stay long, since the criminal moments of his biography began to emerge.
In the same year, Mikhailov moved to permanent residence in Switzerland, where a year later he was taken into custody on charges of money laundering and illegal acquisition of real estate in this country.
It is believed that Mikhas was involved at least in the organization of four contract killings (including the brutal murder of Vlad Listyev). He was also suspected of money laundering in Israel and of organizing uninterrupted drug trafficking through Russia to Europe.
Since 1996, it was Sergei Mikhailov who became the sole and full leader of the Solntsevo group. At the same time, he directed the activities of the organized criminal group Mikhas, being abroad.
Brothers Averina
As already mentioned, Victor Averin (aka Avera Sr.) stood at the origins of the Solntsevo group together with Mikhailov. They are considered the founders and leaders of this organized criminal group.
Avera Sr. tried to build a gang in the image of the American mafia, while making certain adjustments related to the Russian mentality. This group was not built on the principles of thieves' law. Averin, Sergey Mikhailov and Alexander Fedulov formed a gang of a completely new type.
It was Avera Sr. who introduced mandatory visits to gyms and shooting galleries for all members of the group. He also excluded and severely punished those “fighters” who tried to become involved in drug and alcohol use.
Having founded the Solntsevo group, he pulled his younger brother to its activities. Alexander Averin (aka Avera Jr.) quickly joined the gang and even became one of its leaders.
Currently, both brothers permanently live abroad, from where they direct the "work" of the criminal group.
Authority
In addition to Michael, Fedul and the Averin brothers, the Solntsevo group included such authoritative personalities as:
- Eusei, he is Semyon Shorin, who was responsible for the safety and distribution of the common fund, as well as for communication with law enforcement agencies.
- Yuri Denisov is a kind of treasurer of a criminal group. He had a long friendship with Mijas and was his personal economist. He also took an active part in all the financial frauds of the group (with gold, cars, transportation of money abroad).
- Jamal Khachidze (born in 1937), nicknamed Jemal, is a recognized thief in law, the high society of the underworld. He was a mentor and judge of the organized criminal group.
- It is worth noting that the specified criminal group had a strict hierarchy and delineation of duties and roles. Each authoritative member had his own sphere of activity, which he oversaw and for which he was personally responsible to the leaders of the organized crime group. Also, all authorities had their fighters, who unquestioningly complied with all the instructions of the leaders.
For example, Nadir is a close associate of Misha. His criminal responsibilities included overseeing the automotive business related to the theft of domestic cars and foreign cars. In his submission there was a whole staff of qualified hijackers, as well as masters for interrupting license plates on motors, car bodies.
No less significant are Andrey Skrylev and Semyon Mogilevich - faithful friends of Sergei Mikhailov. They were in charge of gambling in Moscow and the Moscow Region. True, at a certain period, Skrylev was out of favor with Misha because of drug use. Semyon Mogilevich was a reliable ally and responsible executor of all Mikhailov’s instructions.
Smoked, aka Sergei Gerasimov, was responsible for the car transport to Vnukovo. And Anatoly Anisimov, aka Budel, controlled the Vietnamese community in Moscow and the region. In addition, he oversaw car centers in Solntsevo and Kuntsevo, as well as car centers "Mercedes" and "Volvo".
Another notable person is Anatoly Nuriev, vice president of Ochakov. Provided the gang with uninterrupted car maintenance. It was at his technical station that stolen cars, spare parts were stored, and numbers were interrupted. And Aram Atayan began by controlling thimblers and other street throws. Then he began to oversee casinos and gambling clubs in Moscow.
Are there no more Solntsevskys?
Despite the fact that now information on the Solntsevo Mafia practically does not appear in the reports of law enforcement bodies, this does not mean at all that the indicated organized crime group has ceased to exist. She continues to be quite large-scale and influential. Moreover, the mafia continues to carry out its activities both on the territory of Russia and the countries of the former CIS, and abroad.
Moscow, St. Petersburg, Samara, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Volgograd, Voronezh, Yekaterinburg, Krasnoyarsk, Rostov-on-Don and Chelyabinsk are far from a complete list of those cities where the Solntsevo group continues its criminal activity.
Instead of a conclusion
For more than 40 years, many have had fear with the phrase “Solntsevo brotherhood” alone. The history of this group originates in the turbulent 90s of the last century.
This organized criminal group was built according to completely new principles and laws for that time, thanks to which it managed to survive to this day, without losing its power and influence. But this criminal group, unfortunately, is also obliged to the corruption of law enforcement agencies and other state structures.
This group has counted a huge number of crimes, including grave crimes such as murders, extortion, involvement in prostitution and the organization of brothels, arms and drugs trafficking. However, despite such a number of criminal acts, only a few of them were disclosed, and those who committed them were prosecuted.