1. Marat Yakovlevich Balagula was a Russian-American organized crime figure, crime boss, and close associate of the Lucchese crime family and Colombo crime family.
21 Facts About Marat Balagula
1. 2.
Marat Balagula was born to Soviet Jewish parents in 1943 in the Russian city of Orenburg at the height of World War II.
3.
For many years, Marat Balagula worked as a crew member of the Soviet cruise ship MS Ivan Franko, which he used as an opportunity to buy scarce Western consumer goods during his trips abroad and then sell them on the black market after returning to the USSR.
4.
Marat Balagula moved his family to Brighton Beach, where he opened a restaurant, which he later sold in order to buy a chain of fourteen gas stations.
5.
In 1980, Marat Balagula purchased the Odesa restaurant, night club, and cabaret on Brighton Beach Avenue.
6.
Marat Balagula declined the offer, as he was afraid of drawing unwanted attention to the club.
7.
In time, Agron and Marat Balagula were selling $150 million worth of fuel every month while pocketing an additional $30-$40 million in unpaid income tax.
8.
Christie Tick had put out the word that Marat Balagula was under his protection.
9.
Meanwhile, among many other things, Marat Balagula owned a New York mansion decorated in pink marble and a private island off the African coast.
10.
Marat Balagula thought as long as he gave them something they would be valuable allies.
11.
Marat Balagula ran an arms trafficking ring that purchased automatic weapons in Florida, transported them to New York City, and them shipped them to the USSR for sale on the black market.
12.
Marat Balagula demanded a percentage of everything Balagula was involved in.
13.
Shortly after Reznikov left, Marat Balagula first called Anthony Casso and then suffered a massive heart attack.
14.
Marat Balagula insisted, however on being treated at his home, where he felt it would be harder for Reznikov to harm him and his family.
15.
In later interviews with journalist Vladimir Kozlovsky, Marat Balagula admitted that his "associates" killed Reznikov in response to his complaints.
16.
Marat Balagula denied having been aware at the time that those "associates" were linked to the American Mafia.
17.
In 1986, Marat Balagula was masterminding a $750,000 credit card scam when a business associate, Robert Fasano, began wearing a wire on him for the US Secret Service.
18.
Marat Balagula then moved to Sierra Leone with mobbed up Israeli businessman and KGB spy Shabtai Kalmanovich.
19.
In November 1992, Marat Balagula was convicted at a separate trial for gasoline bootlegging and sentenced to an additional ten years in federal prison.
20.
Marat Balagula served his sentence, and was released from imprisonment in 2004.
21.
Marat Balagula met his future wife Alexandra at a wedding party in 1965 and married her the following year.