Sergei Mikhailov (russian: Серге́й Анатольевич Михайлов; born February 7, 1958), nickname Mikhas, is a

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

businessman and leader of the

Solntsevskaya Bratva The Solntsevskaya Organized Crime Group (russian: Солнцевская организованная преступная группировка), also known as the Solntsevskaya Bratva (russian: link=no, Солнцевская братва), is a ...

criminal syndicate. Mikhailov was originally a waiter, but moved into the criminal world in 1987 after a conviction for fraud in 1984. Together with Viktor Averin, Mikhas formed the Solntsevo group in the late 1980s, where he was born and raised. François Tharin, a

Vaud Vaud ( ; french: (Canton de) Vaud, ; german: (Kanton) Waadt, or ), more formally the canton of Vaud, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of ten districts and its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat of arms b ...

immigration attorney, who was the former head of the Cantonial Office of Foreigners (french: l'Office cantonal des étrangers du canton de Vaud) obtained both Mikhailov's proper immigration papers and Vaud approval in January 1996 after Mikhailov had purchased a 800,000 Swiss franc villa in

Borex Borex is a municipality in the district of Nyon in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. History Borex is first mentioned in 1213 as ''Borrai''. Geography Borex has an area, , of . Of this area, or 76.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while ...

, Vaud, at the end of 1995 through an intermediary Vaud industrialist.). The owners are Angela Maria Tsapok (russian: Анжела-Мария Цапок) and Natalya Tsepovyaz (russian: Наталья Цеповяз), who are wives of Sergei Tsapok (russian: Сергей Цапков) and Vyacheslav Tsepovyaz (russian: Вячеслав Цеповяз) of The Tsapkov Gang from Kushchevskaya (russian: Кущёвская) in northern

Krasnodar Krai Krasnodar Krai (russian: Краснода́рский край, r=Krasnodarsky kray, p=krəsnɐˈdarskʲɪj kraj) is a federal subject of Russia (a krai), located in the North Caucasus region in Southern Russia and administratively a part of t ...

, and Nadezhda Staroverova (russian: Надежда Староверова) and Olga Alekseevna Lopatina (russian: Ольга Алексеевна Лопатина), who are the wives of high ranking prosecutors Alexei Staroverov (russian: Алексей Староверов) and Gennady Lopatin (russian: Геннадий Лопатин), respectively. Mikhailov had been referred to Tharin from his business friends André Milowanow and Olivier Demaurex of the financial firm SCFI Holding, whose offices are along avenue CF Ramuz in

Pully Pully () is a municipality in Switzerland in the canton of Vaud, located in the district of Lavaux-Oron. It is one of the eastern suburbs of the city of Lausanne, located on the shores of Lake Geneva (''Lac Léman'') and at the foot of the vin ...

, and had arranged for the Line SA company in

Penthalaz Penthalaz is a municipality in the district of Gros-de-Vaud in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. History Penthalaz is first mentioned in 1182 as ''Pentala''. Geography Penthalaz has an area, , of . Of this area, or 55.8% is used for agricu ...

to improve Moscow's water lines. On 16 October 1996, Mikhas was arrested in at the

Cointrin Airport Geneva Airport ,, german: Flughafen Genf, it, Aeroporto di Ginevra, rm, Eroport de Genevra formerly and still unofficially known as Cointrin Airport, is the international airport of Geneva, the second most populous city in Switzerland. It ...

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

on charges of false documents and a law about foreigners owning property. He was later acquitted and allowed to walk free from the court after spending two years in jail waiting for the trial. One of the witnesses, Vadim Rosenbaum (russian: Вадим Розенбаум) who was chairman of the Fund cooperative (russian: кооператив "Фонд"), was shot dead in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

before Rosenbaum could testify. During the Swiss trial in Geneva, Mikhailov's attorney in Switzerland was Ralph Oswald Isenegger and in Russia was Sergei Pogramkov (russian: Сергей Пограмков).

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mikhaylov, Sergey 1958 births Living people Russian gangsters Russian crime bosses Russian people imprisoned abroad Prisoners and detainees of Switzerland