Marat Balagula | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1943-09-08)8 September 1943 |
| Died | 19 December 2019(2019-12-19) (aged 76) New York City, U.S. |
| Other names | The Russian |
| Occupation | Mobster |
| Criminal status | Released in 2004 |
| Spouse | Alexandra Balagula |
| Parent(s) | Yakov Balagula (father), Zinaida Balagula (mother) |
| Allegiance | American Mafia Lucchese crime family Colombo crime family |
| Convictions | 10 years in federal prison |
| Criminal charge | Tax evasion (26 U.S.C. § 7201) via bootleg gasoline |
Marat Yakovlevich Balagula (/məˈrætˌbɑːləˈɡuːlə/;Russian:Марат Яковлевич Балагула; 8 September 1943 – 19 December 2019[1]) was aRussian-American organized crime figure,crime boss, and close associate of theLucchese crime family andColombo crime family.
Marat Balagula was born toSoviet Jewish parents in 1943 in theRussian city ofOrenburg at the height ofWorld War II. ("Balagula" isYiddish for "wagon driver," from theHebrew בעל עגלה.) His mother, Zinaida, had fled with the children from their home inOdesa, Ukraine after the German invasion of the USSR. At the time of his birth, Marat's father, Yakov Balagula, was onactive service as a lieutenant in theRed Army.[2]
As a young adult, Balagula obtained two advanced university degrees: one inmathematics and another ineconomics.[3] For many years, Balagula also worked as a crew member of the Sovietcruise shipMS Ivan Franko, which he used as an opportunity to buy scarce Western consumer goods during his trips abroad and then sell them on theblack market after returning to theUSSR.[1]
After years of allegedly running ablack market food source with the collusion of corrupt Party officials inOdesa, Balagula decided to move his family to theUnited States in 1977. At first he worked as atextile cutter inWashington Heights for $3.50 per hour. His wife Alexandra later remembered, "It was hard for us, with no language, no money."[4]
Balagula moved his family toBrighton Beach, where he opened a restaurant, which he later sold in order to buy a chain of fourteen gas stations.[1] In 1980, Balagula purchased theOdesa restaurant, night club, and cabaret on Brighton Beach Avenue. The Odesa became so popular as a neighborhood locality, that film directorPaul Mazursky wished to shoot a scene there withRobin Williams for the movieMoscow on the Hudson. Balagula declined the offer, as he was afraid of drawing unwanted attention to the club.[5]
With the assistance ofLeningrad-born neighborhoodcrime boss and formerThief in lawEvsei Agron, Balagula expanded his operation while creating a series of "burn companies" to confuse theInternal Revenue Service and evade both State and Federal gasoline taxes. In time, Agron and Balagula were selling $150 million worth of fuel every month while pocketing an additional $30-$40 million in unpaid income tax. When the IRS went looking for their share, they found that all of the addresses to Agron and Balagula's fuel companies led either to telephone booths or vacant lots.[3]
In the aftermath of Agron's murder on May 4, 1985, Balagula took over as the most powerful Russian gangster inBrooklyn.[6] Balagula's main enforcer wasBoris Nayfeld, aBelarusian Jewish gangster who had arrived in America in 1978 and who was suspected by theNYPD of involvement in Agron's murder.[7]
According to Vladimir Kozlovsky, Balagula's wealth made him a notable figure in Brighton Beach, but whenever residents of the neighborhood were asked about his line of work, they would always say that Balagula was in the gasoline business.[1]
However, according to a former Prosecutor fromSuffolk County, New York, "Everybody in Brighton Beach talked about Balagula in hushed tones. These were people who knew him from the Old Country. They were really, genuinely scared of this guy."[2]
AfterColombo crime familycaporegimeMichael Franzese sent soldier Frankie "the Bug" Sciortino toextortprotection money from Balagula's underlings in the gasoline business by threatening them with aball peen hammer,[8] Balagula requested a sitdown withLucchese crime familyconsigliereChristopher Furnari at the 19th Hole social club inBensonhurst. According to former LuccheseunderbossAnthony "Gaspipe" Casso, who was present at the meeting, Furnari declared,
Here there's enough for everybody to be happy...to leave the table satisfied. What we must avoid is trouble between us and the other families. I propose to make a deal with the others so there's no bad blood...Meanwhile, we will send word out that from now on you and your people are with the Lucchese family. No one will bother you. If anyone does bother you, come to us and Anthony will take care of it.[9]
In an interview withRobert I. Friedman, aGenovese crime family member recalled with a laugh, "The next time I saw Michael [Franzese] and mentioned Marat, his face went white. Christie Tick had put out the word that Marat was under his protection."[10]
In the aftermath, New York'sFive Families imposed a two cent per gallon "Family tax" on Balagula's bootlegging operation, which became their greatest moneymaker afterdrug trafficking.[10]
According to authorPhilip Carlo, "Because Gaspipe and Russian mobster Marat Balagula hit it off so well, Casso was soon partners with Balagula on a diamond mine located inSierra Leone. They opened a business office inFreetown."[11]
According to Jeffrey Robinson, there was so much money coming in from the gas tax scam that it was too big for anyone to control and everyone involved was stealing money from each other. Meanwhile, among many other things, Balagula owned a New York mansion decorated in pink marble and aprivate island off the African coast.[12]
According to one former associate, "The LCN reminded Marat of theapparatchiks in theSoviet Union. He thought as long as he gave them something they would be valuable allies. Then all of a sudden he was at risk of being killed if he couldn't pay to the penny."[8]
At the same time, Balagula's underboss,Boris Nayfeld, was asked by a member of theGambino crime family if he could obtainheroin. In response, Balagula and Nayfeld set up an international smuggling operation.China White heroin was purchased inThailand, sealed inside television sets, and then smuggled toPoland. The drugs were then couriered toNew York City and sold to theFive Families. As Poland was not an expected source fordrug trafficking into theUnited States, it took a very long time before the DEA and U.S. Customs became wise to the route.[13]
Balagula also ran anarms trafficking ring that purchasedautomatic weapons inFlorida, transported them to New York City, and them shipped them to the USSR for sale on the black market.[14]
Balagula's deal with theFive Families was seen as a sign of weakness by his rival, a fellowSoviet Jewish gangster namedVladimir Reznikov. According to journalist Vladimir Kozlovsky, Reznikov was a former resident ofKyiv and is still believed in Brighton Beach to have been responsible for both the 1983 murder of mobbed upSoviet dissident intellectualYuri Brokhin and the 1985 murder of neighborhoodcrime bossEvsei Agron.[1]
As a means of sending a message, Reznikov drove up to Balagula's offices inMidwood, Brooklyn. Sitting in his car, Reznikov opened fire on the office building with anAK-47 assault rifle. One of Balagula's close associates was killed and several secretaries were wounded.[15]
Then, on June 12, 1986, Reznikov entered the Odesa nightclub in Brighton Beach. Reznikov pushed a9mmBeretta into Balagula's skull and demanded $600,000 as the price of not pulling the trigger. He also demanded a percentage of everything Balagula was involved in.[16] Even though Balagula immediately agreed, Reznikov allegedly threatened to kill Balagula and his whole family if the latter ever crossed him. Shortly after Reznikov left, Balagula first called Anthony Casso and then suffered a massive heart attack. He insisted, however on being treated at his home, where he felt it would be harder for Reznikov to harm him and his family. When Anthony Casso arrived, he listened to Balagula's story and seethed with fury. Casso later told his biographerPhilip Carlo that, to his mind, Reznikov had just spat in the face of the entireCosa Nostra. Casso responded, "Send word to Vladimir that you have his money, that he should come to the club tomorrow. We'll take care of the rest."[17] Balagula responded, "You're sure? This is an animal. It was him that used a machine gun in the office."[18] Casso responded, "Don't concern yourself. I promise we'll take care of him ... Okay?" Casso then asked, "What kind of car does he drive? Do you have a picture of him?"[17]
The hit was easily okayed[16] and the following day, Reznikov returned to the Rasputin nightclub to pick up his money. Upon realizing that Balagula was not present, Reznikov launched into a barrage of profanity and stormed back to the parking lot. There, Reznikov was shot six times in the arm, leg, and hip byDeMeo crew veteranJoseph Testa. As Reznikov attempted to pull out his own sidearm, Testa finished him off with a seventh bullet in the head. Testa then jumped into a car driven byAnthony Senter and left Brighton Beach. According to Casso, "After that, Marat didn't have any problems with other Russians."[19]
In later interviews with journalist Vladimir Kozlovsky, Balagula admitted that his "associates" killed Reznikov in response to his complaints. Balagula denied having been aware at the time that those "associates" were linked to theAmerican Mafia.[1]
In 1986, Balagula was masterminding a $750,000credit card scam when a business associate, Robert Fasano, began wearing a wire on him for theU.S. Secret Service.[20] After being convicted on federal charges and after an outragedAlan Dershowitz refused Balagula's demand to bribe the appeals judge, Balagula fled toAntwerp with his longtimemistress Natalia Shevchenko.[21] Balagula then moved to Sierra Leone with mobbed upIsraeli businessman andKGB spyShabtai Kalmanovich. In Freetown, Balagula and Kalmanovich ran a very profitable scheme importing gasoline; in a deal brokered by fugitive businessmanMarc Rich and financed by the Lucchese family. Balagula and Kalmanovich then moved toSouth Africa under Apartheid, where they arranged other deals. In later years, however, Balagula's criminal associates would say that they lost money on every deal they did with Kalmanovich.[12] According to Vladimir Kozlovsky, in his later years, Balagula never had anything nice to say about Kalmanovich either.[1]
In February 1987,U.S. Secret Service Agent Harold Bibb traced the credit card receipts of Balagula's mistress, Natalia Shevchenko, to an apartment inJohannesburg. Bibb also learned that Shevchenko's daughter had enrolled in a local university and that Balagula's underlings inNew York City were sending Balagula's driver, a formerSoviet Navy officer, to South Africa every month to hand-deliver $50,000 to Balagula in a worn black leather bag.[22]
While Agent Bibb wished to travel to South Africa to make the arrest himself, the Secret Service refused to pay for an airplane ticket. Instead, Agent Bibb contacted the security officer at the United States Embassy inPretoria, who alerted the Johannesburg police and supplied them with photographs of both the Balagula and of his driver. However, Balagula and Shevchenko escaped arrest and fled toSierra Leone. In an interview with journalist Robert Friedman, Agent Bibb expressed a belief that South African law enforcement officers took bribes to let Balagula get away.[22]
After three years as a fugitive, on February 27, 1989, Balagula was recognized from anInterpolRed Notice by an agent of theFederal Border Guard and arrested at the airport inFrankfurt am Main,West Germany. After being arrested, Balagula said, "It's very difficult to be a fugitive. I can't see my family. In the last year I started to work in the open. I wanted to get caught."[23] In December 1989, Balagula was extradited to theUnited States and sentenced to eight years in prison forcredit card fraud.[24]
In November 1992, Balagula was convicted at a separate trial for gasoline bootlegging and sentenced to an additional ten years in federal prison. While passing sentence, JudgeLeonard Wexler declared, "This was supposed to be a haven for you. It turned out to be a hell for us."[24]
Although the FBI pressured him to become a cooperating witness, Balagula refused, and continued giving orders to his organization while incarcerated in Federal prison.[25] Balagula served his sentence, and was released from imprisonment in 2004.
Balagula met his future wife Alexandra at a wedding party in 1965 and married her the following year. As Alexandra disliked her husband's long absences, Balagula left his position aboard theIvan Franko and instead began running a black market food source with the collusion of corruptApparatchiks, one of whom, according to Balagula, was future Soviet PremierMikhail Gorbachev.[26]
Following his success as a gasoline bootlegger, Balagula moved his wife and children from Brighton Beach to a $1.2 millionsuburban home inLong Island, from which he commuted to "work" inNew York City.[27]
He died from cancer in 2019.[1]
