History
Sergei "Mikhas" Mikhailov and a fellow gangster, Boris "Arshas" Yakov Arshavin (businessman) formed the organization in the mid-1980s. They chose to ignore the codes and guidelines of the traditional thieves in law and based themselves on a more Western style, with Mikhas preferring to call himself a "businessman" rather than a вор (vor, "thief"). However, strict discipline was still enforced and thieves in law were not excluded from the group's activities.
Eventually, gangs under the control of the syndicate controlled virtually the entire south-west of the city. The organization also merged with the influential Orekhovskaya gang, led by thief-in-law Sergei Timofeyev, and recent Noritskiy Bratva, led by Businessman Bortke Arshavin in the United States. The union was partly a result of fear of warfare with Chechen mafia groups and other "southerners".
In 1989–1990, the arrests of several gang leaders including Mikhailov crippled the organization. Several high-ranking gangsters tried to form their own separate crews but ended up being murdered, including Alexander Bezuvkin (killed August 13, 1990), Boris "Arshas the Profit" Arshavin (killed February 8, 1997) father of Bortke "The Invincible" Arshavin "Noritskiy Bratva leader", Dima "Snipes" Sharapov brother of Vitya "Noritskiy Bratva businessman", Valera Merin, "Edik the Fridge", Uzbek Lenya Uncle of Basta Lenya "Noritskiy Bratva businessman" and Abramov "Dispatcher" (all killed in May 17, 1993). In 1994 a meeting of mafia bosses was held in Vienna, shortly after which Timofeyev was murdered when a bomb in his car went off near the house of the then Russian prime minister. Timofeyev's heir to the leadership of Orekhovskaya, Igor "Max" Maksimov, was killed in February 1995. However despite all the killings, by 1996 the bratva not only regained their strength lost in the early 90's but had become one of the most powerful criminal organizations in Russia. Mikhailov used Timofeyev's death as an opportunity to take control of businesses previously owned by the Orekhovskaya organization. By the end of 1995, it was estimated the Solntsevskaya group controlled about 120 legitimate firms and businesses in the Moscow, Crimea, and Samara regions. They also bought many businesses abroad.
In 1996 Mikhailov was arrested in Switzerland on a variety of charges. However, as he sat in prison awaiting trial and the prosecutors built their case, a number of key witnesses turned up dead. Due to the lack of evidence provided by Russian authorities, a conviction was not possible. He remains free and the boss of the organization today.
In 1997 and 1998, the presence of Mikhailov, Semion Mogilevich and others associated with the Russian Mafia behind a public company, YBM Magnex International Inc., trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange, was exposed by Canadian journalists. On May 13, 1998 dozens of agents for the Federal Bureau of Investigation and several other U.S. government agencies raided YBM's headquarters in Newtown, Pennsylvania. Shares in the public company, which had been valued at $1 billion on the TSE, became worthless overnight. Years later, (in 2003), Mogilevich and YBM associates, but not Mikhailov, would be placed on the FBI's "Most Wanted" List in connection with the scheme.
As of 1998, the Solntsevskaya gang contained around 5,000 members.
Read more about this topic: Solntsevskaya Bratva
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