Semion Mogilevich

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Lore & Background

Mogilevich was born in 1946 to a Jewish family in Kyiv's Podil neighborhood and graduated in economics from the University of Lviv. His first significant fortune derived from scamming fellow Soviet Jews (mainly Ukrainian and Russian) eager to emigrate, including to Israel, where Mogilevich himself briefly lived in 1990. According to some reports, Mogilevich earned a considerable amount of money as an intermediary selling jewelry and artwork belonging to Jews who emigrated from Kyiv in the 1980s, but instead sold the assets and pocketed the proceeds. He served two terms in prison, of 3 and 4 years, for currency-dealing offenses. In the 1980s, according to the FBI, Mogilevich was the key money-laundering contact for the Solntsevskaya Bratva. In early 1991, Mogilevich moved to Hungary and married his Hungarian girlfriend Katalin Papp, obtaining a Hungarian passport. He bought a local armament factory, "Army Co-Op", which produced anti-aircraft guns. In 1994, the Mogilevich group obtained control over Inkombank, one of the largest private banks in Russia, in a secret deal with bank chairman Vladimir Vinogradov, getting direct access to the world financial system. The bank collapsed in 1998 under suspicions of money laundering. In the early 1990s, real estate developer and future U.S. president Donald Trump sold an apartment in Trump Tower to Mogilevich. In May 1995, a meeting in Prague between Mogilevich and Sergei Mikhailov, head of the Solntsevskaya Bratva, was raided by Czech police. Two hundred partygoers in the restaurant "U Holubů", owned by Mogilevich, were detained and 30 expelled from the country. Police had been tipped off that the Solntsevo group intended to execute Mogilevich over a disputed payment of $5 million, but Mogilevich never arrived—it is believed a senior figure in the Czech police had warned him. Soon after, the Czech Interior Ministry imposed a ten-year entry ban on him, the Hungarian government declared him persona non grata, and the British barred his entry into the UK, declaring him "one of the most dangerous men in the world." In 1997–1998, his involvement in YBM Magnex International Inc., a company trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange, was exposed; on May 13, 1998, FBI agents raided YBM's headquarters in Newtown, Pennsylvania, and shares valued at $1 billion became worthless overnight. He was arrested in Moscow on January 24, 2008, for suspected tax evasion, and released on July 24, 2009. The FBI placed him on the Ten Most Wanted list on October 22, 2009, and removed him in December 2015, indicating he no longer met list criteria for reasons relating to living in a country with which the United States does not maintain an extradition treaty. Mogilevich lives freely in Moscow, according to the FBI. On April 6, 2022, the Bureau refreshed its effort to apprehend Mogilevich, and the State Department's Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program now offers a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to his arrest and/or conviction.

Reader's Guide

Semion Mogilevich's significance lies in his alleged leadership of a global criminal network spanning weapons trafficking, contract murders, extortion, drug trafficking, and prostitution. His ability to evade prosecution for decades, despite being placed on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list, underscores the challenges of international law enforcement. His connections to prominent figures and institutions, including a former FBI director, William S. Sessions, who served as his attorney in the United States until Sessions' death on June 12, 2020, highlight the deep entanglements between organized crime and legitimate power structures. The collapse of YBM Magnex—shares valued at $1 billion became worthless overnight after an FBI raid—and the Inkombank scandal illustrate the scale of financial fraud attributed to his operations. His continued residence in Moscow, where he was arrested only for tax evasion and released, reflects the difficulty of holding such figures accountable. The U.S. State Department's $5 million reward for his capture, renewed in 2022, indicates ongoing efforts to bring him to justice.

Did You Know?

• Mogilevich graduated in economics from the University of Lviv.
• He served two prison terms, of 3 and 4 years, for currency-dealing offenses.
• In the early 1990s, real estate developer Donald Trump sold an apartment in Trump Tower to Mogilevich.
• William S. Sessions, Director of the FBI from 1987 to 1993, was Mogilevich's attorney in the United States until Sessions' death on June 12, 2020.
• The U.S. State Department's Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program offers a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to Mogilevich's arrest and/or conviction.