REPUTED RUSSIAN MAFIA BOSS CONVICTED.

In a major victory for U.S. law enforcement agencies, a reputed Russian Mafia leader and two other emigres were found guilty in New York July 8 on charges of extortion. Vyacheslav Ivankov faces up to 40 years in jail and a $500,000 fine. The FBI described Ivankov’s as "the most important arrest ever made" in the U.S. government’s battle against Russian organized crime. Ivankov, charged with trying to extort $3.5 million from a small Wall Street investment firm run by two Russians, had lived in the Brighton Beach, NY, Russian community since 1991. (UPI, Reuter, July 8) A Russian law enforcement official said yesterday that Ivankov might be handed over to Moscow for questioning. (Interfax, July 9)

Newspaper Grab Appealed to Belarus Court.