'World's Most Wanted': Meet Semion Mogilevich whom FBI removed from Top 10 wanted list after he went off radar
Semion Mogilevich, a high profile gangster depicting the darker sides of Russia, was put on FBI's most wanted list in 2009 after his 2008 arrest in Russia over tax evasion. Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko had accused him of being involved in criminal activities in the country and ordered action against him, but he still remains at large in Russia, thanks to the protection from his friends in high places.
Netflix's documentary 'World's Most Wanted' Episode 3, looks at the case of Semion Mogilevich, a man who managed to escape the clutches of the FBI, so much so, he was eventually taken off its "most wanted" list in 2015. FBI said it was because the US does not have any extradition treaty with Russia, where he is believed to be residing.
Who is Semion Mogilevich?
Semion Mogilevich is amongst the FBI's top 10 most wanted criminals. He is a Ukrainian-born Russian organized crime boss and has been dubbed as the "boss of bosses" of most Russian Mafia syndicates. Mogilevich, who also goes by the name "Brainy Don", is known for always being one step ahead. He was also known for his ruthless and merciless attitude with a deep understanding of financial operations. According to Craig Unger, an investigative reporter, Mogilevich was dealing in arms and weaponry. He was involved in arms such as anti-aircraft guns and had been dealing on a global scale.
As per an ex-member of Mogilevich's organization, Leonid Roitman, who had joined the crime group when he was 18, says he is ready to tell people the truth. In the documentary, he says, "He would destroy entire rival groups. He would first get rid of the leaders." "Then he'd take care of the new leaders replacing them. This would last until the entire group was destroyed. He had ordered the killings of hundreds," Roitman continued.
As the documentary states, Mogilevich's style was bombings and he had orchestrated several bombings in all over Hungary, Budapest from where he had run his empire initially. He was also making so much money that he had to launder the money. As Unger says, Mogilevich had a textile company in Israel, an import-export company in Los Angeles, USA, a basketball team in Russia, a Japanese restaurant in Prague among many other business ventures. Thomas Fuentes, a former FBI agent, revealed that by 1994-1995, among the top competing organizations, the number one criminal Russian organized crime was identified as Soltsnevo that was being run by Mogilevich. "It was perfect except he got greedy," Fuentes said.
Getting on FBI's radar
In 1995, Mogilevich thought that to be the most powerful gangster in the world, he needs to suck out copious amounts of money from the United States. Fuentes points out that Mogilevich had a financial knowledge of how to penetrate the global financial network. Unger says that many of him being a financial whiz was seen via his various scams. The biggest and most well-known scam was the YBM Magnex case. This is when the FBI had stepped in to investigate a potential scam that had been suspected of draining billions of dollars in illicit profits.
Jonathan Winer, a former deputy assistant US Secretary of State, shared how YBM Magnex was supposed to be producing industrial magnets. "YBM Magnex was valued at a billion dollars," Winer said. That is when the FBI looked at the figures and saw a potential stock fraud case. They then did a search of the facility in Pennsylvania. "We discover that much evidence about the operations except one problem, they don't make the magnets," Fuentes said. Winer adds, "From beginning to end, everything about YBM Magnex had been a fraud." After this case was exposed, it was found that the YBM Magnex scam had cost investors around $150 million putting Mogilevich on the FBI radar. He was accused of "weapons trafficking, contract murders, extortion, drug trafficking, and prostitution on an international scale," by the FBI.
Where is he now?
Mogilevich is currently hiding out in Moscow where there are warrants issued against him. Given that Moscow refuses to extradite anyone to the USA, Mogilevich lives as a free man. He has also been removed the FBI's most-wanted list as he is in a country that does not maintain an extradition treaty with the USA.