Russian Mafia Books

Investigating The Russian Mafia (2008)

2009-10-19T05:30:00.000-07:00

In the 1990s, the so-called Russian mafia dominated newspaper headlines, political analysis, and academic articles around the world. It was the new scourge, a threat so massive that it was believed to hold the Russian economy hostage. Former FBI Director Louis Freeh announced that the Russian mafia was a significant threat to the national security of the United States.brbrBefore the end of the decade, Director Freeh reversed himself, saying that in reality the magnitude of the danger from the Russian mafia had been overestimated. Heading into the new millennium, the international hue and cry about gangsters from the former Soviet Union subsided dramatically, particularly after the terrorist attacks of September 11. Al-Qaeda shifted the spotlight from organized crime to terrorism and U.S. homeland security. Has the Russian mafia been eradicated or has it simply fallen below the radar?brbrCountless books and articles have reported on the Russian mafia in breathless terms bordering on hysteria. Casting a broad net, Serio brings a different, more analytical approach to his exploration of the subject. In Investigating the Russian Mafia, Part I begins by asking a series of basic questions: What did the Soviets understand 'mafia' to mean? Was this a Russian phenomenon or more broadly-based, multi-ethnic groups? How did the media influence the perception of the Russian mafia? What does a close examination of the official statistics reveal about the nature of crime groups in the former Soviet Union?brbrIn Part II, Serio discusses an overview of attitudes and practices of the criminal world, business, and policing, among others, in Russian history. He demonstrates that many of the forces at work in the 1990s did not originate in the Communist era or arise because of the collapse of the USSR. Part III presents a discussion of the crime groups that developed in the post-Soviet era, the challenges that faced the business world, and the law enforcement response.brbrThis book is not simply a discussion of the Russian mafia. It is an exercise in critical thinking about one of the major developments in international crime over the past two decades. Readers will be challenged to examine information being presented by the media and government authorities, to put the current news stories in a broader historical and cultural context, and learn to ask questions and arrive at their own conclusions. Investigating the Russian Mafia is ideal for students, law enforcement, practitioners, and business people operating in the former Soviet Union, as well as the general reader.brbrSerio brings a unique perspective to his subject matter. He lived in the former Soviet Union for seven years, witnessing the country and culture from a variety of angles. In the Soviet era he was a tourist and student in Moscow. He also served in a unique internship in the Organized Crime Control Department of the Soviet police prior to the collapse of the USSR. In the 1990s, he worked as a media consultant to The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, BBC, the Chicago Tribune, and others. Serio became a security consultant to the global corporate investigation and business intelligence firm, Kroll Associates, and later served as director of Kroll s Moscow office overseeing investigations across the former Soviet Union.

Comrade Criminal: Russia`s New Mafiya (1997)

2009-10-19T05:23:00.001-07:00

Written by a veteran foreign correspondent and former Moscow bureau chief for the Toronto Star, this riveting book presents the first comprehensive investigation into the organized crime and corruption that plague Russia today. A New York Times Notable Book of 1995.

Red Mafiya: How the Russian Mob Has Invaded America (2000)

2009-10-19T05:22:00.001-07:00

"In North America alone there are now thirty Russian crime syndicates operating in at least seventeen U.S. cities, most notably New York, Miami, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Denver. The Russians have already pulled off the largest jewelry heist and insurance Medicare frauds in American history, with a net haul exceeding $1 billion. They have invaded North America's financial markets, orchestrating complex stock scams, allegedly laundering billions of dollars through the Bank of New York, and coolly infiltrating the business and real estate worlds. P"The Russians didn't come here to enjoy the American dream," New York state tax agent Roger Berger says glumly. "They came here to steal it." -From the Introduction From an award-winning investigative journalist comes an astonishing exposi of Russian organized crime, its growing power in the United States, and its terrifying implications for the rest of the world. PIn the past decade, from Brighton Beach to Moscow, Toronto to Hong Kong, the Russian mob has become the world's fastest-growing criminal superpower. Trafficking in prostitutes, heroin, and missiles, the mafiya poses an enormous threat to global stability and safety. The black-market corruption of the Brezhnev era proved the perfect breeding ground for organized crime. Beginning in the 1970s, Soviet ?migr?s--including a large number of felons and murderers the USSR was happy to get rid of--began arriving in the United States and quickly established themselves as a major criminal force in New York, Las Vegas, and elsewhere. But it was the breakup of the Soviet Union that made the PRussian mob what it is today. In a weakened, impoverished Russia, it quickly became the dominant power. And it has now spread to every corner of the United States, infiltrating its banks and brokerage firms--and American law enforcement is just waking up to this enormous problem. No journalist in the world knows more about the Russian mob in America than Robert Friedman. At great risk to himself, he has made connections with a number of top criminals who have gone on record about their activities for the first time. The result of his discoveries is a revelation: the Red Mafiya is everywhere. The implications--for law enforcement, the economy, foreign policy, for the American people themselves--are staggering."

The Russian Mafia: Private Protection in a New Market Economy (2005)

2009-10-19T05:20:00.001-07:00

Challenging widely held views, this book presents a thorough account of the Russian Mafia. It charts the emergence of the group in the context of the transition to the market, the privatization of protection, and pervasive corruption. It includes reports of undercover police operations, in-depth interviews conducted over several years with the victims of the Mafia, criminals and officials, and documents from the Gulag archives. It also provides a comparative study, making references to other Mafia, such as the Japanese Yakuza, the Sicilian Cosa Nostra, and the American-Italian Mafia.

Russian Mafia in America: Immigration, Culture and Crime (1998)

2009-10-19T05:15:00.000-07:00

Does a "Russian Mafia" really exist? This book seeks to answer that question by examining the intricate history of Russian organized crime in both its homeland and the United States. It investigates in detail such topics as the characteristics of the Russian criminal tradition of Vory v Zakone ("thieves professing the code"), contemporary Russian mobs, criminal activity among Russian immigrants, claims of KGB involvement in American crime, and connections between crime bosses and gangsters in both countries. PDrawing on research conducted in cooperation with the Tri-State Joint Soviet emigre Organized Crime Project as well as on privileged access to confidential information, James O. Finckenauer and Elin J. Waring particularly focus on criminal networks in the New York-New Jersey-Pennsylvania area. They also report on a nationwide survey of law enforcement agencies and examine major criminal cases, notably Russian participation with Cosa Nostra families in bootleg gasoline schemes. PThe Russian Mafia in America is the first in-depth study on Russian organized crime since the break-up of the Soviet Union and the arrival of the latest wave of immigrants to the United States. It is an eye-opening expose of major players in America's underworld and a significant contribution to the literature on organized crime. PJames O. Finckenauer is Director of the International Center at the National Institute of Justice. He is the author of Russian Youth and Organized Crime in America. He lives in Washington, D.C. Elin J. Waring is Assistant Professor of Sociology at the Herbert H. Lehman College, City University of New York. She is the co-author of Crimes of the Middle Classes: White Collar Offenders in the Federal Courts. She lives in New York City.

Career Criminal: My Life in the Russian Mob | Until the Day I Died (2008)

2008-10-19T05:24:00.000-07:00

Career Criminal, My Life in the Russian Mob | Until the Day I Died is a based on true events, tell-all memoir of a master lawbreaker and a world still heavily shrouded in mystery.A first generation immigrant, I was born into the mafiya I had no other way.Throughout my tenure as Bratan, I commanded a crew of dastardly villains that knew not virtue and for whom truth was always unclean They were deadly as they were brilliant.In a series of complex schemes and manipulations, most involving the financial markets, we were able to bilk investors out of hundreds of millions.We went all out, as if we had nothing to live. Like as if you held guns to our kids.Murder was as ordinary as eating a Big-Mac sandwich.Career Criminal is a stylish exposé that takes you deep into the inner working and heavily guarded hierarchical structure of the Russian mafiya.I'm not referring to what you've already looked at on the telley.I take you deep within the framework of modern-day Russian organized crime and reveal for the first time, many of its closely protected secrets.Career Criminal isn't just the story of my life | It's the story of my death, rebirth, and an illuminating look at redemption and the afterlife.