Moscow crime baron's murder most likely part of war with Georgian-led gang - source
MOSCOW. Jan 16 (Interfax) - Wednesday's murder of Moscow crime baron Aslan Usoyan, nicknamed Grandpa Hassan, was most likely part of a presumed conflict between his part of the underworld and a local crime ring led by of natives of Georgia, a law enforcement source said.
The source told Interfax that another underworld chief, Vyacheslav Ivankov, a close associate of Usoyan nicknamed Yaponchik (Little Jap), who was murdered in 2009, was the first victim of this alleged conflict. Detectives have been able to obtain evidence that Usoyan swore to avenge Yaponchik's death.
After that, enemies of Usoyan were murdered in Spain and France, and the leader of the anti-Usoyan gang was arrested near Moscow and a received a prison term for extortion.
"The failed attempt to murder Usoyan in Moscow in the autumn of 2010 was most likely a put-up job that [Usoyan] needed in his fight against his adversaries," the source said.
The gunman who shot Usoyan as the latter was leaving a restaurant in Moscow did not leave his weapon on the site of the assault, the source said.
An initial investigation suggested that he had used a sniper rifle. Six 7.62-millilmeter cartridge cases were found on the scene. The shots were fired from a building opposite the restaurant Usoyan was leaving.
A waitress who was seeing Usoyan out "was wounded by a ricocheting bullet, the source said.
He said Usoyan had been keeping low profile but had been a tremendously influential, and possibly the most powerful, underworld figure throughout what is the territory of the former Soviet Union.
