Otar Kvantrishvili
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Otari "Otarik" Kvantrishvili (January 27, 1948, Zestaponi – April 5, 1994, Moscow) was a prominent member of the Russian Mafia up until his death in 1994.
A former sportsman who was convicted of rape in the 1960s, Kvantrishvili set up an organisation for retired athletes. The organisation was, in fact, a front for Kvantrishvili's extortion empire. After the break up of the USSR at the end of 1991, Kvantrishvili found himself a place in the politics of the mafia as a mediator during the mob wars, especially those of 1993-1994.
However, his position of power was short-lived, as in 1994, on leaving a Moscow bath house surrounded by bodyguards, a marksman on the roof of an apartment shot him dead. Though the identity of the marksman still remains unknown, some believe it was Alexander Solonik, Russia's top professional killer.
[edit] References
- Bandits, Gangsters and the Mafia (Martin McCauley)
- Darkness at Dawn: The Rise of the Russian Criminal State (David Satter)
- Otar Kvantrishvili (Russian)
