Russian mobs have surpassed the Italian Mafia as the FBI's 'no.1 priority' in South Florida after a string of recent nightclub busts.




In April, six notorious members of an Eastern European network - along with a Sunny Isles investor and 10 'Bar Girls' imported mostly from Latvia and Estonia - were charged with conspiring to tempt and rob South Beach tourists by racking up their credit card bills for alcohol at private Russian-speaking clubs on Washington Avenue.

'Eurasian organised crime is our no.1 priority,' FBI special agent Rick Brodsky told the Miami Herald.

In control of the alleged South Beach club racket is Alec Simchuk, 44, of Hallandale, who is now on the run. Simchuck and others in his network - including Albert Takhalov, 29, of Aventura - recruited long-time Sunny Isles real estate broker Isaac Feldman as an investor in Stars Lounge on Washington Avenue.

Mr Feldman, who failed to win his bid for a city commission seat last year, plans to fight the charges, which include conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Myles Malman, his attorney, said his client was a 'minority investor' in the Stars Lounge, which was controlled by Simchuk and Takhalov.

'He was hardly ever there and he didn’t supervise or control the women,' Mr Malman, a former federal prosecutor said. 'He did not operate or run this club. The notion that the Russian mob is involved in this club is far fetched and the ultimate stretch.'

Mr Malman added that his client 'lost everything.'
Since brutal Chicago mobster Al Capone took residence in a mansion on Miami's Palm Island in 1928, South Florida has become a haven for notorious organized criminals.

Gangster Meyer Lanksy came to Broward County in the 1930s. And New York's five main organized crews — the Gambino, Genovese, Bonanno, Colombo and Lucchese families - all eventually owned properties in South Florida. It became home due to its 'open' nature: No one family could claim exclusive rights to operate in the Sunshine State.

In recent years, reputed Gambino boss John 'The Teflon Don' Gotti, maintained a residence in Fort Lauderdale. Nicodemo 'Little Nicky' Scarfo, head of a Philadelphia and Atlantic City Mafia family, lived in the same area during the 1980s.

Meanwhile Simchuk’s organisation racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in bogus bills for alcohol on the credit cards of unsuspecting male tourists, prosecutors claim.

All together, the 'B-Girls', who received 20 per cent commissions for bringing in customers, ripped off about 90 patrons, mostly tourists or businessmen with signs of wealth, such as expensive watches or shoes, authorities say.

One victim from Philadelphia was approached by two 'B-Girls' at the plush Delano Hotel in Miami and complained he was later scammed out of $43,000 at Caviar Beach on Washington Avenue.

His American Express bill included dozens of charges for alcohol.

Another victim was charged $5,000 for a bottle of champagne.

Some of the reputed mobsters behind the schemes reside in Sunny Isles Beach, which has so many former Soviet Union immigrants that it has earned the title 'Little Moscow.' The cities of Hollywood and Hallandale Beach are also home to many Russian-speaking nationals.

The alleged 'B-Girl' scam was not the first time the Eastern European mobs have descended into South Florida. In February, 13 South Florida members and associates of an alleged Armenian crime organisation were rounded up by authorities. They were charged with extortion and other offences as part of a series of indictments against over 100 suspects from Miami to Los Angeles.


The main extortion charge accused ringleader Aram Khranyan, 41, of Sunny Isles Beach, and others of threatening 'physical violence' against a man if he did not pay a $12,000 debt to a member of Khranyan’s organisation.

Authorities say the case is a sign that the mob from the former Soviet Union is climbing deeper into South Florida to commit 'any type of fraud you can think of,' said Mr Brodsky, in charge of the Miami FBI’s organised crime squad. They are involved with credit card fraud, cybercrime, human trafficking, prostitution, drugs, extortion and arms smuggling.



Mr Brodsky said the mob is very different from Italian Mafia family La Cosa Nostra, known for its 'made men,' 'wise guys,' and 'good fellas.'

'The challenge [to law enforcement] is the hierarchy is overseas and has greater access to political protection,' Mr Brodsky said.







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