Here's another tidbit of interest.
23 December 1999
Financial Times (UK)
Russian mafia link to US campaign funds
By Thomas Catán in New York
Russian émigrés living in the US and believed by authorities to have links with organised crime have made campaign contributions to leading US candidates and political parties in what appears to be an effort to win political influence.
Through family members and businesses, Semyon (Sam) Kislin - identified in a 1994 internal report by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a member of a Russian crime syndicate - contributed $46,250 to the political campaign of New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani, a Republican, in 1993 and 1997, election records show.
The commodities trader also donated $8,000 to New York senator Charles Schumer, a Democrat, last year, and contributed to several other US political figures. The allegations against him were first publicised by the Center for Public Integrity, the Washington-based non-profit group, earlier this week. Mr Kislin has denied any links with organised crime.
It also emerged that Jacob Bogatin, an associate of Semyon Mogilevich, who is himself alleged by US and UK intelligence authorities to be the head of a Russian crime syndicate, made donations to the National Republican Congressional Committee between 1996 and 1998. Mr Mogilevich has denied the allegations against him.
Election records show Mr Bogatin contributed at least $2,750 to the Republican campaign group - sometimes under the name of his company, YBM Magnex.
The Philadelphia-based magnet manufacturer, which was founded by Mr Bogatin with Mr Mogilevich, was raided and closed down by US authorities in May 1998. YBM Magnex pleaded guilty to securities fraud and was fined $3m in November 1999.
These and other developments have prompted US investigators to start looking closely at Russian assets and investments in the country, particularly in the New York area, according to people close to the investigations.
Though the political contributions traced so far are not large, they will fuel concerns that money from Russian organised crime could be finding its way into the political system.
"When I was in the Department of State, from time to time we would hear of people associated with organised crime reaching out to members of the [Capitol] Hill," said Jonathan Winer, who until recently served as deputy secretary of state. "The administration briefed Hill members on more than one occasion."
Mr Winer noted that those briefed by the State Department came from both main political parties, and on all occasions dropped contact with the figures under suspicion.
In recent years, two Russian businessmen identified by US authorities as having links to Russian organised crime have turned up at Democratic fundraising events, despite being denied entry visas. Both have appeared in photographs with President Bill Clinton and Vice-President Al Gore.
Yesterday (December 1999), the office of Senator Schumer said it had performed a background check on Mr Kislin and found nothing on him. "If any of these allegations prove true, we will absolutely return the money," a spokesman said.
Mr Giuliani's office could not be reached for comment.
One thing I find really interesting about this topic is that the rise of the Russian mob in New York followed the decline of the Gambinos after the Gotti bust, which also shifted the balance of power to the Genoveses. I have wondered if these things are related, either by opportunism or by design, and how this shift in power relates to the political balance of power in New York politics.
Genoveses 'top of five Mafia families'
The FBI considers the Genoveses to be the biggest and most powerful of New York's five Mafia gangs. The four other families have seen their leaderships undermined by a relentless campaign against organised crime in the United States over the past 20 years, detectives say. That has led to a new underworld order. The Genoveses - once seen as the second most powerful family after the Gambinos - have now moved up to the number one slot, the FBI believes. The Gambinos were crippled by the arrests of their boss John Gotti and other leading figures.