BODIES LINKED TO MOB 4 INDICTED IN VALLEY MAN'S KIDNAPPING.Byline: Dana Bartholomew Staff Writer A federal grand jury has indicted INDICTED, practice. When a man is accused by a bill of indictment preferred by a grand jury, he is said to be indicted. four men in the kidnapping of a San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. businessman and another man for more than $5 million in ransom, according to an indictment obtained Wednesday by the Daily News. The four men, all foreign nationals, were arrested last month. The kidnappings have become part of a Los Angeles FBI office probe of a string of suspected organized crime murders and abductions that have led to the recovery of four bodies in the past week from a Northern California mountain reservoir. A fifth body, that of Sherman Oaks building contractor Meyer Muscatel mus·ca·tel n. 1. A rich sweet wine made from muscat grapes. 2. A muscat grape or raisin. [Middle English muscadelle, partly from Medieval Latin , was recovered in October and returned to his family last week as the investigation gained momentum. The Los Angeles grand jury indicted the four men last month in connection with the kidnapping of Alex Umansky, a North Hollywood businessman who disappeared in December at the hands of a Russian crime syndicate, according to his family. In the second case, the kidnappers demanded $5 million in ransom after abducting ab·duct tr.v. ab·duct·ed, ab·duct·ing, ab·ducts 1. To carry off by force; kidnap. 2. Physiology To draw away from the midline of the body or from an adjacent part or limb. George Safiev, a foreign citizen whose nationality was not disclosed. The indictment came as law enforcement authorities point to the growing influence of Russian organized crime in Los Angeles Crime in Los Angeles has been a major problem in Southern California and concern for Angeleno residents since the early 20th Century. Crime has steadily decreased since the 1990's but since 2006, crime has increased. and throughout California. ``You name it, they do it - anything to make a buck,'' said John Moulin, assistant head deputy district attorney for the newly formed Los Angeles County District Attorney's Organized Crime Division. ``They're basically crime entrepreneurs.'' The grand jury charged Iouri Mikhel, Jurijus Kadamovas, Petro Krylov and Ainar Altmanis with two counts of hostage taking and aiding and abetting a·bet tr.v. a·bet·ted, a·bet·ting, a·bets 1. To approve, encourage, and support (an action or a plan of action); urge and help on. 2. . The indictment accused the defendants of threatening to kill, injuring and continuing to detain Umansky and Safiev. According to the indictment, filed in United States District Court United States District Court In the U.S., any of the 94 trial courts of general jurisdiction in the federal judicial system. Each state, as well as the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, has at least one federal district court. in Los Angeles, Mikhel and Kadamovas seized Umansky on Dec. 13 and demanded $234,628 in ransom, which the family paid. On Jan. 20, the same two men abducted abducted Distal angulation of an extremity away from the midline of the body in a transverse plane and away from a sagittal plane passing through the proximal aspect of the foot or part, or away from some other specified reference point Safiev, according to the indictment, with the purpose of compelling his associate, Kostantinos Tezhik, to pay about $5 million to set him free. FBI officials and the U.S. Attorney's Office declined comment on whether the men were suspected in the deaths of Muscatel or the three men and a woman whose bodies were recovered from New Melones Reservoir New Melones Reservoir is a reservoir on the Stanislaus River in the California Central Valley, about 60 miles upstream from the river's confluence with the San Joaquin River and forming part of the border between Calaveras County and Tuolumne County. , in the Mother Lode foothills 40 miles east of Stockton. ``I expect that future information will come out as our investigation continues,'' said Thom Mrozek of the U.S. Attorney's Office. On Wednesday, Los Angeles homicide detectives returned from New Melones Reservoir, where they have assisted Calaveras and Tuolumne county sheriff's divers recover the bodies from silty water 200 feet to 300 feet deep. An autopsy was performed Tuesday on two bodies recovered Sunday. Another autopsy will be conducted today on bodies recovered Monday and Tuesday. FBI officials declined to say whether any of the bodies have been identified. ``They did identify a body but I don't know which one it was,'' said LAPD 1. LAPD - Link Access Procedure on the D channel. 2. LAPD - Los Angeles Police Department. Lt. Clay Farrell. ``It was a Russian-sounding name.'' FBI officials, who have kept a tight lid of secrecy on the lengthy investigation, said they will issue a statement later this week regarding the organized crime activity involved in the investigation. The fastest growing crime syndicates in Southern California involve ethnic Russians, Armenians and other natives of Eastern Europe, according to law enforcement officials. Between 600 and 800 Russian criminals are estimated to ply their trade in Los Angeles, home of the second-largest Russian immigrant population in the United States. The problem of Russian organized crime has become so severe that the state Justice Department has scheduled a statewide conference for next month. Crimes include identity theft; immigration immigration, entrance of a person (an alien) into a new country for the purpose of establishing permanent residence. Motives for immigration, like those for migration generally, are often economic, although religious or political factors may be very important. , insurance, medical and credit card fraud Credit card fraud is a wide-ranging term for theft and fraud committed using a credit card or any similar payment mechanism as a fraudulent source of funds in a transaction. The purpose may be to obtain goods without paying, or to obtain unauthorized funds from an account. ; extortion; auto theft; fuel tax fraud; money laundering; child pornography; ``white slavery'' prostitution; kidnapping and murder, officials said. ``Some of these people are quite capable of great violence and viciousness,'' said Lt. Don Hooper of the LAPD's Organized Crime and Vice Division. ``The culture there tends to be violent. We think it (the Russian mob), is an up-and-coming organized-crime phenomenon.'' |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion