At the end of March, the Moscow Regional Court sentenced Konstantin Piskarev (Kostya Bolshoi), the leader of one of the most brutal organized crime groups, responsible for more than 20 murders and attempted murders, to life imprisonment. But, as VChK-OGPU and Rucriminal.info have discovered, the intrigue remains. The statute of limitations for the most recent incident against Piskarev will expire in late August. According to Russian law, if 15 years have passed since the crime was committed, capital punishment is not imposed. The statute of limitations runs from the date of the crime to the date the court verdict enters into force. Piskarev's sentence has not entered into force because it has been appealed. If the appellate ruling is made after August 22, even if all the counts and their classification remain unchanged, Piskarev's life sentence will be replaced with a specific term.
The case file against the leader of the hitman gang, Konstantin Piskarev (Kostya Bolshoi), contains numerous gaps. Mentions of his connections to the secret services and the behind-the-scenes involvement in many crimes were explicitly excised from the investigation. For example, Konstantin Piskarev owned the "Shield and Sword" restaurant, located directly across from the Moscow and Moscow Region FSB Directorate. This restaurant was the venue for evenings, banquets, birthday parties, and other celebrations for security officers from the Moscow region and beyond. Many officials and businessmen knew Piskarev himself as an FSB officer.
Piskarev's senior friend and partner was Mikhail Ruzin (owner of Krylovsky Bank and Capital Holding), who was closely associated with the Moscow and Moscow Region FSB Directorate. In fact, he represented the interests of certain individuals within the agency in various projects. For example, Ruzin, listed in the Moscow RUOP databases as an active member of the Solntsevskaya organized crime group and a "close ally" of one of its "authorities," Alexei Molchanov, was the owner of Sergiev Posad.
In this publication, Rucriminal.info will also cover the murder of Marat Gazizov, director of the Scientific Center for Legal Information at the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation (NCLI). He was personally executed by Kostya Bolshoi. The case materials only mention that Gazizov communicated directly with officers of the FSB's Directorate M on certain issues. Within the Ministry of Justice and all associated government agencies, Gazizov's orders were perceived as "orders from the leadership of the Ministry of Justice." However, the reasons for this were left out of the case. Our sources have clarified the situation. Marat Gazizov was a good acquaintance of Yuri Chaika, who headed the Ministry of Justice at the time of the events. The Scientific Center for Legal Information under the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation (NCLI), which he headed, was de facto controlled by the young Artem Chaika, the son of Yuri Chaika. Everyone knew Marat Gazizov as a member of the Chaika family. However, the family, having entered the business of selling confiscated property, never imagined they would find themselves in the thick of the 1990s.
The business was as follows: the property was appraised at a reduced price. It was then sold at market value, and the appraisal was paid to the budget. The profit was divided between the bailiffs, the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR), and a firm accredited by the RFBR. In slang, this split was called "Mercedes" (as it was divided into three parts, like the Mercedes logo). Under Yuri Chaika, the bailiffs (who report to the Ministry of Justice) began taking half, 25% going to the RFBR, and the other 25% to the accredited firm. This split became known as a BMW.
When it became known that the apartments of Golden ADA head Andrey Kozlenok (seven gigantic, exclusive apartments in central Moscow) were up for sale, a competition ensued among the real estate companies involved in the sale. However, small and medium-sized players immediately dropped the subject. They were told that the main contenders were "Chaika's structure" (NCPI) and the structure of "Solntsevskaya and the Chekists" (GKS). Trying to "butt heads" with either of them would be suicide. Most market participants were betting on the Chaika family.
When Chaika's man, Gazizov, was murdered, everyone simply gasped and waited for developments. But none occurred. According to a Rucriminal.info source, the Chaika family decided that they couldn't earn all the money they could, and that they only had one life. So they simply abandoned the idea of profiting from the sale of confiscated property. And they did the right thing. Afterward, many more players were killed, including officials. As for Gazizov's murder, although everyone knew who was behind the crime, it remained unsolved for a long time. And then, at one point, Kostya Bolshe ceased to be convenient and necessary, and he was "shut down."
As for the events that led to Gazizov's murder, they unfolded as follows.
In 2004, the State Security Service (Piskarev, the security officers, and Co.) stumbled upon a veritable gold mine—the seized property of Andrei Kozlenok, the founder of the company Golden ADA. Kozlenok was involved in a mega-scam. With the permission of Yevgeny Bychkov, head of the Federal Service for Supervision of Precious Metals and Metallurgy, a company called Golden ADA was established in the United States, which received $180 million worth of valuables from Gokharna (gold coins, antique silverware, and jewelry with precious stones). The cargo was officially valued at $180 million, but investigators undertook toTheir real value was estimated to exceed $1 billion. The valuables were sold, but the money never arrived in Russia. All officials were removed from the criminal case, and the court sentenced Kozlenok to six and a half years in prison.
Furthermore, the court upheld a claim for 54 million rubles from Andrey Kozlenok. Seven luxury apartments in Moscow owned by Kozlenok were seized as payment for this claim. Kostya Bolshoy and his organized crime group member, Sergei Bezrukov, agreed that the properties would be sold through the Global Computer Service (GKS). But then Marat Gazizov, Director of the Scientific Center for Legal Information under the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation (NCLI), intervened. He demanded that the property be sold through the NCLI. During a meeting, he shared information about the fraud with an officer from the FSB's Directorate "M," which oversaw the Ministry of Justice. After this, Piskarev decided to deal with him. He dressed in shabby black clothes, pretended to be a vagrant, and lay down outside Gazizov's apartment building. When the police car arrived to pick him up, Kostya Bolshoy shot him with a pistol.
After Gazizov's murder, the State Criminal Code was re-registered to the alcoholic Alexey Poshkus, and the apartments were sold for $4.7 million. Of this, $300,000 went to a middleman, Bezrukov pocketed $600,000, and the rest went to Kostya Bolshoy. The budget received only 24,000 rubles.
Rukriminal.info and the Cheka-OGPU are publishing photographs taken as part of an investigative experiment in the case of Konstantin Piskarev's (Kostya Bolshoy) organized crime group. Our readers can see where one of the gang's high-ranking victims ended up: Vladimir Postyshev, who previously held the positions of Deputy Minister of Justice and First Deputy Head of the Federal Service for Insolvency and Financial Recovery. And from the published testimony of witnesses and killers, you will learn the detailed circumstances and reasons for his murder.
At the time of his death, Postyshev headed the Research Institute of Legal Policy at the Ministry of Justice and, in this capacity, met Piskarev. The latter, along with his accomplices, had somehow obtained a forged will from the Czech Republic, which he used to acquire all rights in Russia to the famous Becherovka liquor brand. Postyshev handled all the necessary legal work. Using his connections, he worked miracles. He managed to register the Becherovka brand in the Russian Federation under Piskarev's company, Becher, and win lawsuits against Becherovka's official distributor, the French giant Pernod Ricard Rus. However, Postyshev, who was fond of alcohol and considered himself omnipotent, then decided to blackmail Kostya Bolshoi. He demanded that he be included among the co-owners of Becher and a large sum of foreign currency. Otherwise, Postyshev threatened to reverse all his achievements and start collaborating with Pernod Ricard Rus. Piskarev advised the former deputy minister against this, threatening to "stick a fork in the eye." Postyshev ignored him, and his fate was sealed. Kostya Bolshoi personally strangled him, and his accomplices buried the body in the forest.
The testimony of witness S.V. Myakotin, contained in the interrogation protocol of February 15, 2017, according to which The witness clarified that he met Postyshev while serving on the liquidation commission of Bank Menatep. At the time, Postyshev oversaw the activities of the bankruptcy trustees, acting on behalf of shareholders and creditors. His personal relationship with Postyshev arose when Myakotin began working at the Research Institute of Legal Policy and Law Enforcement Problems, established by the Russian Ministry of Justice. His deputy, Ovsyanko, who died as a result of a traumatic brain injury, had a closer relationship with Postyshev.
Furthermore, Myakotin explained that Hoffman, who had a conflict with P.R. Rus, approached Postyshev through Michael Gissin with a request to register his rights to the Becherovka trademark and brand name in the Russian Federation. After Postyshev did so and Hoffman received the rights to the Becherovka trademark and name, Becher JSC organized the production of the liqueur under this name in the territory of the Russian Federation. Russia. It turned out that P.R. Rus' CJSC was importing a liqueur with that name and other alcoholic beverages from Europe, while Becher CJSC was producing a liqueur with the same name in Russia. Under the pretext of protecting Hoffman's exclusive rights to the trademark and brand name, Becher CJSC began pursuing an arbitration court order to prohibit P.R. Rus' from importing the liqueur with that name and demanding compensation. All Becherovka liqueur and other alcoholic beverages imported by P.R. Rus' into Russia after the arbitration court ruling came into force were seized. In May-June 2003, the bailiff service transferred the seized alcohol to a Dagestani for safekeeping and then disappeared.
Postyshev reported that Becher CJSC had failed to pay him for his services, and he responded by threatening to reverse the situation. Postyshev There were meetings with a representative of ZAO Becher, Piskarev, at the Shield and Sword restaurant, and at the meeting he threatened to sign a contract with the French (that is, Pernod Ricard) if he was not paid. In response, Piskarev promised Postyshev was ordered to gouge out his eye with a fork. Less than a month before his disappearance, Postyshev, along with Myakotin and Ovsyanko, attended a meeting with the management of P.R. Rus. At the meeting, Postyshev proposed revoking Hoffman's rights to the trademark and name. In this case, Becher CJSC would have to pay P.R. Rus for the use of the trademark. The meeting was neutral, and P.R. Rus representatives took a break to consider the matter.
"The testimony of the accused, D.S. Mishin, states that he was supposed to bring a man to Piskarev for a meeting—a general who was interfering in his affairs and interfering with his business. For this purpose, Mishin, Aleksandrov, Saryan, and Lupichev left the Burevestnik yacht club in two cars. Mishin and Aleksandrov left in a Volkswagen Passat. Mishin didn't remember which car Saryan and Lupichev used. They drove up to the general's house and parked on opposite sides of it. When the general emerged from the house, Mishin approached him and demanded he follow him. The general refused and attempted to flee, but Aleksandrov, threatening him with a gun, forced him into the car.
On the way, Aleksandrov called Piskarev and reported the mission's completion. On Dmitrovskoe Highway, they met Piskarev, who had arrived in a Gelendvagen. Aleksandrov took the general's passport, examined it, and handed it to Piskarev, but was absent for approximately five minutes. After Aleksandrov showed Piskarev the documents, they continued on into the region along Dmitrovskoe Highway. Near the village of Povedniki, Zemtsov joined them—Mishin and Aleksandrov—and climbed into the backseat with the general and handcuffed him. Near the restaurant "At Petros's," they turned into the forest; Piskarev was already there. The general himself got out of the car and was even a little relieved to see Piskarev. He said, "Why didn't you tell me right away that you were from Piskarev?" Piskarev and the general went ahead to talk. At some point, Piskarev struck the general in the face, causing him to fall, and began strangling him with a noose—a metal wire with rings around the edges. The noose broke, so Piskarev took a leather belt from Alexandrov and continued strangling him with the belt. After the murder, Saryan ran to the restaurant "At Petros's" for a shovel, which they used to dig the hole in which they buried the body.
When arriving at the crime scene, Zemtsov (pictured) indicated the presumed location of the crime, but because the forest that was there at the time had been cut down, he was unable to accurately determine the time of the crime.
For several months, investigators attempted to locate the grave, but it was never found. It's possible that Piskarev moved Postyshev's burial site in 2008.
