Transnational crime: The case of Russian organized crime and the role of international cooperation in law enforcement

Much of the case involved Yaponchik's operations in Brighton Beach, the part of Brooklyn that is home to hundreds of thousands of Russian emigrants. The case involved the cooperation of local law enforcement officials along with the FBI and federal prosecutors in Brooklyn. Russian cooperation was obtained at different stages in the investigation.

In a jury trial in Brooklyn, Yaponchik was sentenced to ten years in prison, a sentence that surprised Yaponchik and the Russian authorities. Russian-American cooperation led to a successful prosecution in the United States, which would not have been possible in Russia because of the powerful links between the criminal underworld and the criminal justice system.

In cases involving high-level officials instead of a gangster like Yaponchik or individuals trafficking in child pornography, Russian-American cooperation has been much more problematic. This has been true in the cases of the Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID), Golden Ada, and most recently the Bank of New York. The HIID case, conducted out of Boston, involves the investigation of two members of the institute for using personal relationships for private gain while under U.S. government contract. Their Russian partner in the institute, dedicated to the promotion of privatization in Russia, was Anatoly Chubais, a leading official throughout most of Yeltsin's years in power and now chair of the electricity monopoly United Energy Systems. His clout within the Russian government has meant that there has been almost no progress in this investigation since it was initiated several years ago. 41

Likewise, the Golden Ada case, since its inception, has faced very serious investigative challenges because of the very high-level Russian officials involved. Russian officials systematically stole tons of diamonds, jewelry, silver, and gold from the Russian national treasury. They established a diamond store in San Francisco--the Golden Ada--and sold pre-Petrine coins in Los Angeles. This theft was perpetrated by the head of the State Treasury and other high government officials closely associated with Yeltsin. American law enforcement discovered the case because of the large shipments of precious commodities arriving in the country and because the Russians tried to recruit San Francisco police to accompany the diamond shipments. American police tipped off the FBI. 42

The high-level Russian corruption and the hundreds of millions in assets that arrived in the United States added a national security dimension to the case. Briefings on the case were held at the National Security Council. The investigative work by local police, IRS, Customs, and federal organized crime strike forces in San Francisco and Los Angeles reflects the diverse group of teams needed to mount such a complex investigation.

Russian and American cooperation occurred primarily through the FBI and reflects the close cooperation they developed with the Ministry of Interior in Russia. The FBI legal attache in Moscow, Michael di Pretaro, provided for the transport of the chief investigator, Viktor Zhirov, to California to work with American investigators. American investigators developed a relationship of trust with Zhirov during the investigation. Their confidence in him increased after he was beaten up after his return to Russia by those who wanted to impede the investigation. Zhirov and his investigative team from the Ministry of Interior were granted access to twenty thousand pages of American documents and were allowed to interview witnesses for the Russian case.