http://1010wins.com/topstories/winstopstories_story_143063220.html
Sources: Midtown Murder A Russian Mob Hit
May 22, 2004 6:30 am US/Eastern
(1010 WINS) (NEW YORK) The brazen shooting of a jeweler on a busy midtown Manhattan sidewalk may have been a hit by the Russian mob, law enforcement officials said Friday.
A gunman dressed in black shot Eduard Nektalov once in the back of the head and twice in the back on Thursday in the Diamond District before disappearing into a crowd. The motive of the assailant, who remained at large, was unclear, police officials said.
The law enforcement officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said investigators were focusing on the victim's possible financial dealings with Russian organized crime figures.
Nektalov, 46, and his father, Roman, were under indictment for allegedly helping Colombian drug dealers launder money. But investigators don't believe the slaying was related to that case, or that it involved a robbery, the officials said.
The victim — a native of the former Soviet republic of Uzbekistan — and his father were in court earlier this week, when a judge set a July 12 trial date in their money laundering case, Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Margolis said Friday. He declined further comment.
The Nektalovs' attorney, Christopher Chang, insisted Eduard Nektalov was unlikely target for a hit by any group. His client, he said, never cooperated with the government and expected to be cleared at trial.
"Everything was fine," Chang said. "He was very optimistic."
The lawyer described Nektalov, 46, a married father of two who lived in Queens, and his father as hardworking immigrants who had a solid reputation as owners of Roman Jewelers on West 47th Street. The family was unaware of any threats against him, he added.
"Obviously, they're very distraught," he said.
An indictment unsealed in June accused Nektalov and his father of selling gold and diamonds to an undercover agent and an unidentified cooperating witness in a series of deals starting in 2002. The buyers used bags of cash, "which were represented to be narcotics proceeds," the court papers said.
The sting resulted in arrests of the Nektalovs and eight other Diamond District defendants. Prosecutors allege that some of the accused jewelers agreed to melt down the gold and mold it into screws, belt buckles and other items that could be safely funneled back to Colombia.
Nektalov, who was free on $250,000 bond, apparently was on his way home at about 7:20 p.m. Friday when the gunman approached him from behind on Sixth Avenue between 47th and 48th streets, an area famed for its numerous diamond merchants. The shooter fired three times and fled on foot, leaving behind a crime scene that drew actresses Candice Bergen, of "Murphy Brown" fame, and Lorraine Bracco, of "The Sopranos," who were being hosted by police on a ride-along program.
Investigators were collecting and reviewing videotapes from security cameras in the area to try to identify the shooter.
LOL!
This is wonderful "golden screws (LOL) belt buckles, etc".
Wonderful for the future of lost treasure searches, we now know they exist.
A man bout a 14 inch Thunderbird at a swap meet in National City, Calif, in the 1950's or early 60's. I appeared to be pot metal sprayed with black paint. He paid a dollar or two for it.
It sat on a shelf in his garage for 5 or 10 years.
Then came a day when he took another look at it, and removed the paint.
It was solid GOLD.
There was in the cavity a small scrap of parchment, with the date in the 1800's, the name of a mine in Alaska and the fact that this was the first pour of the mines gold.
It was pictured every where, but I recall that it was in the Lapidary Journal in the 1960's.
From memory, I think the value of the gold at $35.00 an ounce was $38,500., with added value, as an art object and as an antique. Gold today is at $350. to $400. per ounce.
I shopped at that swap meet during that era, but don't recall a single bargain.....
Isn't it strange how the Russian connection to all that is evil keeps coming up.
How nice to stop a voice from talking, a couple bullets and the man is forever silent.
Your article, points to the fact that it is a small world and so tied with the same rope.