RUSSIA MAFIA OPERATIONS

>> YOUR LINK HERE: ___ http://youtube.com/watch?v=KXpiACJcKjU

(24 Nov 1994) Russian/Nat • • Intelligence sources say top Russian mafia ringleaders are choosing Israel as the venue for their meetings and conference. • • Israeli intelligence says the ring leaders have already held a number of meetings in the country, and another is planned for the weekend in one of Tel Aviv's top hotels. • • It's a sign of the growing sophistication of the Russian crime gangs, as they expand their business networks across the world. • • Part of that sophistication lies in the ability to make dirty money clean . APTV has a special report on how it's done. • • Friends and family mourn yet another victim of the Russian mafia. • • He stepped on a bomb planted outside his house. • • Just the latest in a series of high-profile killings that have hit the capital in recent weeks. • • The interior ministry admits it is powerless to deal with the explosion of violence. • • But experts on organised crime claim that the Russian mafia is moving away from violence and into legitimate business. • • Someone who knows more than most about how the secretive Russian underworld operates is Dima. He used to work for one of Moscow's largest crime syndicates. • • He agreed to be interviewed only on condition of total anonymity. • • • SOUNDBITE: (RUSSIAN - 24') • They invest money in business. That business brings in a profit. They export goods and bring others into the country. Just normal economic activity. But it's all based on dirty money. • SUPER CAPTION: DIMA. • • And you don't have to go too far to see the types of business • which are easy to set up and which bring large profits. • • Moscow now has over 70 casinos and nightclubs - only one less • than Las Vegas. • • It is here that Russia's nouveau riche come to relax. It also happens to be a very easy way of laundering money. • • SOUNDBITE: (RUSSIAN - 25') • This is a clear example of how criminal activity has become completely legal. It's the easiest way to make money. It's also the easiest way to launder money. There • are so many of these people now. They are very rich and they need places to have fun. • SUPER CAPTION: DIMA • • And the casino business is so profitable to the mafia that it has become the latest Russian export to the West. • • This film was shot by the mafia in one of their many nightclubs in Eastern Europe. • • They bought the club with the profits from drug and arms deals. While the club is perfectly legal, the girls who work as dancers and strippers are not. • • Their visas say they are secretaries, but in fact they are prostitutes. • • Their job is to get the customers to buy drinks at vastly inflated prices and then to sleep with them. • • The girls have to give up 50% of their earnings but even so can make up to three- thousand dollars per month. Good salaries, but they don't always have the choice of when they can leave. • • Alla Maksimovna used to work abroad as a dancer. • • Now she owns her own club in Moscow but remembers the kinds of threats that are made to the girls. • • SOUNDBITE: (RUSSIAN - 10') • They'd say, 'Girls, things aren't bad here. You've got a mother, grandmother, children, you don't want anything unpleasant to happen to them, do you?' • SUPER CAPTION: ALLA MAKSIMOVNA, NIGHTCLUB OWNER • • But despite the threats, there is no shortage of girls willing to try their luck as dancers abroad. • • Olyesa has just got her visa to go and dance in a Russian-owned club in Luxembourg. • • Competition for the job was fierce and she knows she is expected to make her bosses a lot of money. • • SOUNDBITE: (RUSSIAN - 13' • • SUPER CAPTION: OLYESA, STRIPTEASE DANCER • • Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork • Twitter: / ap_archive • Facebook: / aparchives • Instagram: / apnews • • • You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...

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