Georgians among Russian crime syndicate arrested in US

Fifteen Georgians are among the 33 members of a Russian gang who were charged for alleged racketeering, fraud, narcotics, firearms, and stolen property offenses in the United States on Wednesday.

Federal authorities said that of the charged defendants, 27 are associated with a nationwide racketeering enterprise led by Razhden Shulaya and Zurab Dzanashvili, both Georgian nationals.

According to the US Department of Justice, Shulaya aka "Brother,” aka "Roma,” is known as a "vor v zakonei” – a Russian phrase translated roughly as "thief-by-law”, and which refers to an order of elite criminals from the former Soviet Union who receive tribute from other criminals, offer protection, and use their recognised status to adjudicate disputes among lower-level criminals.

As such, Shulaya had substantial influence in the criminal underworld and offered assistance to and protection to members and associates of the Shulaya Enterprise, US authorities said.

According to them, those members and associates, and Shulaya himself, were engaged in widespread criminal activities, including acts of violence, extortion, the operation of illegal gambling businesses, fraud in various casinos, identity theft, credit card frauds and the trafficking of large quantities of stolen goods.

The Justice Department said that the Shulaya Enterprise comprised groups of individuals, often with overlapping members or associates, dedicated to particular criminal tasks. According to the Department, while many of these crews were based in New York City, the Shulaya Enterprise had operations in various locations throughout the United States, including in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Florida, Nevada and abroad.

"Most members and associates of the Shulaya Enterprise were born in the former Soviet Union and many maintained substantial ties to Georgia, the Ukraine, and the Russian Federation, including regular travel to those countries, communication with associates in those countries, and the transfer of criminal proceeds to individuals in those countries”, the Department of Justice said in a statement.

Acting Manhattan US Attorney Joon H. Kim said, "Today, we have charged 33 members and associates of a Russian organized crime syndicate allegedly engaging a panoply of crimes around the country. The indictments include charges against the alleged head of this national criminal enterprise, one of the first federal racketeering charges ever brought against a Russian ‘vor.’”

He added that the "dizzying array of criminal schemes” committed by this organised crime syndicate allegedly include murder-for-hire, a plot to rob victims by seducing and drugging them with chloroform, the theft of cargo shipments containing over 10,000 pounds of chocolate, and a fraud on casino slot machines using electronic hacking devices.

Unofficial reports say there were two internationally known, award-winning Georgian sportsmen among the detainees, however the Georgian Foreign Ministry says this information cannot be double-checked yet due to the time difference between Georgia and the States.

"It’s nighttime in New York now. Our general Consulate will contact the relevant departments first thing in the morning and we will learn additional details of the case”, Zalkaliani said.