ABSTRACT
This chapter identifies the nature and extent of Russian-émigré crime within the tri-state region of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania in order to assist law enforcement in its ongoing effort to combat the threat of organized crime. Project staff used La Cosa Nostra, solely for comparative purposes, to assist in analyzing and assessing Russian-émigré crime. The Projects success in assisting other agencies can also be attributed, in part, to the liaison developed between Project staff and law enforcement agencies in the new Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). In Russia, criminals typically fall into three major types: the vory v zakone, the young entrepreneurs, and the thieves in authority. The largest and most publicized frauds involving Russian émigrés have been motor fuel tax scams frauds in which the perpetrators sell and resell gasoline and diesel fuel without paying required excise taxes. Insurance fraud is another complex crime frequently committed by Russian-émigré criminals.
