Monday, December 29, 2008

Russian Kleptocracy

Hows this for scary stats:

The government in Moscow estimates the Russian mafia controls 40% of private business and 60% of state-owned companies.

Unofficial sources say 80% of Russian banks are controlled either directly or indirectly by criminals.
Source

Interesting surf trail to follow:
Russian mafia

Chechen Mafia


Murder of American journalist Paul Klebnikov


One particularly disturbing note - as I was doing the research on this topic, I received some sort of malware attack. I don't know if it is related, but I wouldn't put it past either Putin or his mob buddies to set some traps out there just to discourage those who might be digging for info. Not that I'm paranoid or anything.

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