Trial of Alexander Romanov and others accused of money laundering and introducing money from the Russian mafia into Spain. Cati Cladera (EFE)

The State Attorney General, Dolores Delgado, requested (verbally) from the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor a couple of weeks ago a list of those investigated linked to the Russian mafia in Spain.

The request, without justifying the reason —according to sources from the Prosecutor's Office—, takes place within the framework of an international context seriously destabilized by the invasion of Ukraine led by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The list, which initially had 600 names, was given to him last week, reduced to fifty.

In it, there are both those investigated by the State security forces and bodies such as figureheads, law firms, real estate agents... There are names of old acquaintances and detainees, such as businessman Gennadios Petrov, along with his wife and son, Anton , "stuck to Putin after inheriting his father's good contacts," say the researchers.

Petrov Sr. was arrested in the Troika operation (in the Balearic Islands and the Costa del Sol, 2008).

The Russian general Viktor Kanaikine is also on the "black list" for the Clotilde operation (Lloret de Mar, 2013), where the former mayor of the town Xavier Crespo, from CiU, was also convicted of bribery, who aspired to become head of the Mossos d'Esquadra.

Kanaikine is a "hero" of the former USSR and director of the company (DDC) that supervised Gazprom's gas pipelines.

Next to them is Andrei Petrov, whom the Civil Guard maintained was the man from Kanaikine in Spain.

But there are also people like Mijaíl Fridman, owner of Dia supermarkets with the LetterOne company, recently sanctioned by the European Union.

Fridman is being investigated for international bribery with his partner Vage Engibaryan for suspicious business practices, "such as sinking companies to buy them later at bargain prices", reveal the investigators, who assure that "they maintain very good relations with the Russian Ministry of the Interior" .

More information

The Government traces the assets of 11 Russian oligarchs with interests in Spain

Putin's old friend, Ilyas Traber, also appears, accused of money laundering and partner of the PTK oil company, who allegedly commissioned and disseminated a dossier with serious accusations against the prosecutor José Grinda, who is investigating the Russian mafia in Spain and who asked for protection from the State Attorney General's Office.

There is also the magnate Vagit Alekperov, former deputy oil minister of the Soviet Union (USSR) and, later, president and largest shareholder of the oil company Lukoil, who was photographed in 2012 with the then president of the Generalitat, Artur Mas, before whom he pretended to be the oil center of the port of Barcelona.

The so-called Russian oligarchs began to settle in Spain after the fall of the former Soviet Union in the 1990s, more specifically after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

"They were looking for a refuge, they came loaded with money from organized crime that roamed their respects in the transition from a socialist economic system to a capitalist one (selective assassinations, bombs, snipers...)", point out sources from the Civil Guard.

"Others had made a fortune with the indiscriminate privatization of companies in strategic sectors: oil, metals, gas... Unscrupulous businessmen, criminals and politicians took positions, which have evolved until today."

Since the war began, these agents have increased surveillance of the Russian oligarchs, their yachts and their real estate,

Hotel in Peguera (Mallorca) owned by a Russian oligarch.

In Spain there are about 96,000 registered Russian citizens, according to the CIS, many of them settled in

luxury developments along the Spanish Mediterranean arch: "From Gerona to Sotogrande, passing through the Costa del Sol and the islands, there are areas of mansions where only Russian is spoken,” the agents say.

They go to places where there are already people from their community, who can help them and also among whom they can camouflage.

“From Gerona to Sotogrande, passing through the Costa del Sol and the islands, there are areas of mansions where only Russian is spoken”

Civil Guard sources

Among those millionaire oligarchs, who "spend a million euros on their daughter's birthday party" in Alicante, or "1,500 euros on flowers a week", or "have a high-end car just to go to the horse race" According to the researchers, there are some who are further away from Putin who want to secure their capital while trying to erase their controversial Russian past (in many cases they are people who were initially imprisoned or persecuted by the regime, which they later served linked to). to the so-called “crime syndicates”).

Others, on the contrary, are protected by the Kremlin: "To the point that not only do we not have their cooperation in the investigations, but we suspect that they are boycotted (with leaks) by security agents of the FSB (Service Federal Security)”, say the researchers.

The 'modus operandi'

The case of the Russian mafia is contrary to that of the Italian, according to judicial experts from the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office and the police.

If the camorra seeks to infiltrate state structures, Russian criminal groups have often been used by the state.

“The Russian government has allowed them to operate, acquire companies by force (

), land, monopolize strategic or economic sectors (food chains, gyms, casinos...), as long as they neutralize or eliminate their worst enemy: dissidence. ”, report the same sources.

That is why they receive their protection beyond the borders of Russia.

The

of those who have been settling in Spain, in that diaspora that "geostrategically floods" the vulnerable points of the systems with money, is simple.

Their economic power opens doors for them: "First they look for a trusted law firm and a tax advisor based in Spain, they point out interesting investments and facilitate contacts."

Most of the investments made by the Russians, especially at the beginning of their arrival and with the real estate

that the Spanish economy was experiencing in those years, focused on the acquisition of real estate in tourist areas: hotel complexes, houses and luxury apartments ... However, in recent times, as has happened in other European capitals such as London (ironically known as “Londongrado” due to the irruption of Russian tycoons in its financial district) Russian names linked to football and digital platforms are beginning to emerge .

In recent times, police operations have exposed the connections of these oligarchs with politicians and law enforcement officers among those under investigation, which shows that they have managed to penetrate and exert their influence in the administration.

“That is the biggest threat they pose,” warn the agents.

“At the moment there have only been cases at a local and regional level, not a state level,” they say.

Timeline of the fight against Russian organized crime

The State security forces and bodies began to persecute the "Russian mafia" in Spain at the beginning of this century without knowing what they were facing.

The first operations were key to meet a "new phenomenon" and drive away many of the oligarchs, and Vor z Konen (thieves in Law or generals of criminal groups).

"Our main concern was to know the power that our investigators had, some of which led us to the Kremlin," the researchers point out. 

It is the first great operation, "the Crab against the Russian mafia".

Police and Civil Guard, also led by Judge Baltasar Garzón, investigated alleged members of Russian organized crime who had settled in Spain: Vitaly Izgilov, Zakhar Kalashov, Oleg Tchoubine, Vladimir Tiourine, Djemal Khachizde, or Tariel Oniani since 2000. The Russian authorities offered information in exchange for information, which the police confirmed ended up in the ears of Kalashov, one of the main suspects.

Twenty people were arrested: ten in Malaga, four in Alicante, four in Palma de Mallorca and two in Madrid.

“One of the main Russian mafia structures in the world” was dismantled.

Kalashov was released in 2010. 

It is the largest operation against money laundering of the Russian mafia and with important ramifications with the Russian authorities.

There were 17 defendants, who were released in 2018 —ten years after their indictment— for not being able to prove their links with the Tambovskaya and Malishevskaya organizations.

The ringleaders of the plot, Gennadios Petrov (“linked to the Kremlin”), Viktor Gabrilenkoz and Serguei Kouzmine, fled from justice after the indictment.

Against "thieves in law", 69 arrested in Europe, 24 in Spain who were dedicated to managing itinerant gangs that rob homes.

Both the “soldiers” and the “general” were imprisoned in Greece. 

Then came Majestic (2012) in Malaga, Clotilde in Lloret de Mar (2013), Geo (2013-14), Diriba (2013) in Mallorca, Ikon I and II (2015 and 2016), Oligakh in Marbella (2017), Dromedario (2017), Kus (2018) and Testudo in Alicante (2020).

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