Werewolf in law: how the criminal story of Anwar's authority ended
The Moscow Regional Court sentenced Lutfullo Mukhamadiev, known in the criminal community as Anvar, to 24 years in a high-security penal colony. He and three accomplices were found guilty of banditry, murder, extortion, robbery and illegal arms trafficking. How a former operative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan became the leader of a gang in the Moscow region, for which its members received multi—year sentences and what crimes the investigation managed to prove - in the Izvestia article.
What is the verdict based on?
The Moscow Regional Court sentenced criminal boss Lutfullo Mukhamadiev (Anvar) and three of his accomplices based on the verdict of the jury. They found all the defendants guilty — Anvar himself, as well as Farkhod Ziedulloev, Abdulvakhob Dzhangibekov and Akbar Farkhadov.
Depending on the role of each, the court found the defendants guilty of participating in an armed gang, murder, extortion, robbery and illegal arms trafficking. The state prosecutor asked for different terms to be set for them: Mukhamadiev — 24 years in a high-security penal colony, Ziedulloev — 19 years, Dzhangibekov — 14 years, and Farkhadov — 21 years. All four will serve their sentences in high-security penal colonies.
From an operative to an authority figure
According to Izvestia's sources, Lutfullo Mukhamadiev, the 53-year-old gang leader, was an operative of the Tajik Interior Ministry. In the early 2000s, he was fired from the police for defamatory reasons. A native of Dushanbe, Mukhamadiev had an incomplete higher education, had previously been convicted and lived in Russia without registration, remaining registered in the capital of Tajikistan at 24/4 Karabayeva Street.
As follows from the case file, of all the members of the group, only Akbar Farkhadov had Russian registration — in Fryazino, Moscow region, at 1b Moskovskaya Street. The rest went without registration for several years and did not attract the attention of the police.
The gang of the former Tajik operative was based in the Moscow region and mainly consisted of natives of Dushanbe. According to the case file, its participants acted in the style of the 90s: they attacked businessmen in order to seize their property, "protected" commercial structures, and intimidated individual entrepreneurs and extorted money from them for patronage. All members of the group had previous convictions, had firearms, followed secrecy measures and obeyed Anwar without question.
Judging by the case file, Mukhamadiev personally made key decisions, developed crime plans and distributed roles among subordinates. At the same time, he himself participated in the attacks.
So, in 2014, Anwar decided to kill a reputable Tajik businessman, the former vice-president of Tajikistan's largest concern for the extraction and processing of oil and non-ferrous metals, Taj-Al, Shukhrat Yahshimuradov (Shukha). According to Mukhamadiev, Shukha was involved in the murder of his relative. They decided to shoot a businessman near his house in the village of Razvilki in the Leninsky district of the Moscow region.
On the afternoon of April 22, Mukhamadiev, along with two gang members, Zieduloev and Farkhadov, drove to the businessman's house in Chevrolet Aveo and Range Rover cars.
Two cars, as the leader decided, were needed for a safe escape after the murder or in case of resistance from the businessman. Mukhamadiev and Farhadov sat in the back seat of the Chevrolet and watched the house. Zieduloev was driving a powerful Range Rover and had to warn his accomplices about the danger.
At about 19:25, Yakhshimuradov drove up to his house and, opening the back door of the car, began to take something out of the cabin. Anwar ran up to him and shot him several times at close range.
The businessman was hit by three 9 mm bullets. They shattered the cervical vertebrae, damaged the spinal cord, lung and intestines. Yakhshimuradov died on the spot from his injuries. The attackers got into a waiting Range Rover and fled.
On the evening of December 27, 2016, Mukhamadiev and Dzhangibekov attacked another businessman, Normurodov. They demanded to give them the Hyundai Starex minibus that belonged to him and 300 thousand rubles. On Anvar's instructions, Dzhangibekov called the businessman and, under the pretext of resolving the dispute with his business partner, offered to meet at the fruit and vegetable base in Signalny Passage.
After a short conversation, the bandits put Normurodov in a VAZ-21140 car and took him to a cafe on Dekabristov Street. There, at gunpoint, they demanded the keys to the minibus and money. The businessman fulfilled their demands.
The gang operated until June 2017, when its leader was detained in the Vyaznikovsky district of the Vladimir region. The GUUR operatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs carried out the seizure with the support of special forces. The security forces' fears were confirmed: Anwar had a grenade with him, but he did not have time to use it because of the speed of the operation.
According to Izvestia's sources, according to operational data, Anwar and his accomplices could have been involved in other crimes, including several contract killings and criminal squabbles. The group, they said, was trying to establish control over large markets and the cemetery business.
However, the investigation failed to confirm these episodes. Sources attribute this, among other things, to the difficulties of investigating crimes committed by ethnic groups, as well as to the unwillingness of victims to testify due to fears for themselves and their loved ones.
According to Izvestia's interlocutors, the Interior Ministry lacks specialists who deal with such groups. While there is no separate unit to combat them, the results of this work will be limited, they believe.
"Anwar and his brothers could have had many more episodes," the editorial sources emphasize. — But we decided to leave only those that could be proved with reinforced concrete, so that the authority could not escape punishment. And that was enough."
There are few results
State Duma deputy Mikhail Matveev, who has been dealing with migrant crime for several years, told Izvestia that he was not surprised by the verdict or the circumstances of the case. According to him, crime is only one of the problems associated with the influx of migrants, but it is precisely this problem that is particularly painfully perceived by the population.
Although the Interior Ministry is tightening the fight against such crimes, there are few noticeable results so far, the deputy believes. According to him, the statistics of offenses among migrants are transmitted to him only under the heading "for official use," but the proportion of serious acts among them remains high.
At the same time, Matveev notes, due to the visa-free regime in force in the CIS, Russian security forces often do not have up-to-date information about the past of migrants arriving in the country, including their criminal records. According to the deputy, this problem has not been solved yet.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
