4 ms·

How organised crime took over Russia

64 points by charlysl 9y ago

DyslexicAtheist 9y ago
anyone interested in the how the Mafia has gone global like any other multinational I highly recommend McMafia (the book not the Netflix series) https://www.amazon.com/McMafia-Journey-Through-Criminal-Underworld/dp/1400095123 https://www.amazon.com/McMafia-Journey-Through-Criminal-Unde... The Guardian writes "The effects of the Russian organised crime boom have been experienced as far afield as Tel Aviv and New York, and all parts of Europe. In this reading, the East is little more than an opportunistic supplier to the West's insatiable demand. 'Organised crime is such a rewarding industry,' writes Glenny, ' ... because ordinary Western Europeans spend an ever burgeoning amount of their spare time and money sleeping with prostitutes; smoking untaxed cigarettes; sticking €50 notes up their noses; employing illegal untaxed immigrant labour on subsistence wages; admiring ivory and sitting on teak; or purchasing the liver and kidneys of the desperately poor in the developing world.'" https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/apr/06/society https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/apr/06/society
- DyslexicAtheist 9y ago
  PS: the Netflix series wraps the topic into a plot/story and is nothing like the book. Although I did like the Netflix production, the fact that every scene was shot in Croatia (mostly Zagreb) was annoying to my eyes and made it feel like they didn't care too much about production details (whether the story played out in Nice, Marseille, Warsaw ... it felt annoying to me because the architecture between cities (if you know them) are very different. It just didn't seem to fit. But don't let that take you off. If you liked Sopranos, Gomorrah you will enjoy this (and probably forgive Hollywood's ignorance toward locations within Europe). :-)
paulie_a 9y ago
I recommend the books: McMafia and the Red Mafia.
charlysl 9y ago
In Shalamov's "Kolyma Tales" there are some fascinating accounts of how the criminal underworld operated in the Soviet era, and its brutal contact with the political prisoners in the Gulag. 'On Tick' is particularly memorable. The wikipedia page "Thief in law" is very interesting and a serious time sink if it prompts you to read more about all these characters, and so is https://en.crimerussia.com/ https://en.crimerussia.com/
- mtreis86 9y ago
  "The Gulag Archipelago" is another good book on the Soviet era prison system.
qaq 9y ago
The ruling elite in russia a literally gangsters.
pdm55 9y ago
Bill Browder tells the story of his financial dealings in Russia in “Red Notice”. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, Browder saw an opportunity to buy stakes in Russian firms in the 1990s. Then, state ownership of companies was being portioned out to workers in the form of shares. Needing cash for daily living, the workers were on-selling their shares at impromptu auctions at a fraction of their true value. Browder took advantage of this and spent millions, on behalf of wealthy western investors, buying shares whose true value was in the billions. Criminals or state officials then came after the shares that he had acquired. To get at Browder, their methods included imprisoning and killing his auditor friend, Sergei Magnitsky. The scheme to get Browder’s clients’ money included the illegal transfer of ownership of a Browder company to themselves, have it declare a loss and get a multi-million dollar tax refund. The US and the UK have recently passed Magnitsky Acts aimed at restricting the travel of those directly involved in the detention and murder of Sergei Magnitsky.

64 points by charlysl 9y ago

anyone interested in the how the Mafia has gone global like any other multinational I highly recommend McMafia (the book not the Netflix series) https://www.amazon.com/McMafia-Journey-Through-Criminal-Underworld/dp/1400095123 https://www.amazon.com/McMafia-Journey-Through-Criminal-Unde... The Guardian writes "The effects of the Russian organised crime boom have been experienced as far afield as Tel Aviv and New York, and all parts of Europe. In this reading, the East is little more than an opportunistic supplier to the West's insatiable demand. 'Organised crime is such a rewarding industry,' writes Glenny, ' ... because ordinary Western Europeans spend an ever burgeoning amount of their spare time and money sleeping with prostitutes; smoking untaxed cigarettes; sticking €50 notes up their noses; employing illegal untaxed immigrant labour on subsistence wages; admiring ivory and sitting on teak; or purchasing the liver and kidneys of the desperately poor in the developing world.'" https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/apr/06/society https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/apr/06/society

DyslexicAtheist 9y ago
PS: the Netflix series wraps the topic into a plot/story and is nothing like the book. Although I did like the Netflix production, the fact that every scene was shot in Croatia (mostly Zagreb) was annoying to my eyes and made it feel like they didn't care too much about production details (whether the story played out in Nice, Marseille, Warsaw ... it felt annoying to me because the architecture between cities (if you know them) are very different. It just didn't seem to fit. But don't let that take you off. If you liked Sopranos, Gomorrah you will enjoy this (and probably forgive Hollywood's ignorance toward locations within Europe). :-)

paulie_a 9y ago

I recommend the books: McMafia and the Red Mafia.

charlysl 9y ago

In Shalamov's "Kolyma Tales" there are some fascinating accounts of how the criminal underworld operated in the Soviet era, and its brutal contact with the political prisoners in the Gulag. 'On Tick' is particularly memorable. The wikipedia page "Thief in law" is very interesting and a serious time sink if it prompts you to read more about all these characters, and so is https://en.crimerussia.com/ https://en.crimerussia.com/

mtreis86 9y ago
"The Gulag Archipelago" is another good book on the Soviet era prison system.

qaq 9y ago

The ruling elite in russia a literally gangsters.

pdm55 9y ago

Bill Browder tells the story of his financial dealings in Russia in “Red Notice”. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, Browder saw an opportunity to buy stakes in Russian firms in the 1990s. Then, state ownership of companies was being portioned out to workers in the form of shares. Needing cash for daily living, the workers were on-selling their shares at impromptu auctions at a fraction of their true value. Browder took advantage of this and spent millions, on behalf of wealthy western investors, buying shares whose true value was in the billions. Criminals or state officials then came after the shares that he had acquired. To get at Browder, their methods included imprisoning and killing his auditor friend, Sergei Magnitsky. The scheme to get Browder’s clients’ money included the illegal transfer of ownership of a Browder company to themselves, have it declare a loss and get a multi-million dollar tax refund. The US and the UK have recently passed Magnitsky Acts aimed at restricting the travel of those directly involved in the detention and murder of Sergei Magnitsky.