Well-known Kyiv businessmen Oleksandr and Vyacheslav Konstantinovsky targeted in murder attempt, which FBI alleges was part of a plot to take over their business
Two well-known Kyiv businessmen, Oleksandr and Vyacheslav Konstantinovsky, were the targets of a recently thwarted murder attempt, which the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation alleges was part of a plot to take over their business.
A joint investigation by the FBI and Ukrainian police helped prevent the murder attempt and eventually led to the arrest of both suspects, Monya Elson and Leonid Roytman, in New York on March 24. A press release from the U.S. Department of Justice referred to the arrested suspects as “Russian organized crime figures.”
Elson, an allegedly prolific hit man for the so-called Russian mafia, was born in Kishinev, today known as Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, and moved to the “Little Odessa” section of Brooklyn during the mass exodus of Soviet Jews in the early 1970s. In and out of prison, Elson has been connected to a range of criminal activities, from drug trafficking and racketeering to extortion and murder. “Red Mafia,” an investigative paperback focusing on the Russian mob published in the 1990s, describes Elson as one of the deadliest gansters to emerge from the USSR.
The Justice Department report said that the murder plot was masterminded in late 2004, with one of the hit men hired by Elson and Roytman in Ukraine having previously worked as a body guard for Ukrainian-born businessman and reputed Russian organized crime figure Semyon Mogilevich. According to the report, Roytman promised the hit men $100,000 and a “percentage of the brothers’ businesses” once the murders had been carried out.
Roytman, who had himself handled security for the brothers in Kyiv, according to the report, showed the hit men where the brothers lived and spent their free time and explained how their security could be penetrated.
Luckily for the brothers, instead of spending the $50,000 advance that they had received in February 2005 to buy weapons needed to pull off the job, the hit men used this money to cover their personal expenses, according to the report.
Fearing retribution from Elson for taking his money without carrying out the contract, the hit men decided to cooperate with Ukrainian law enforcement and turned over the tapes they had made of their meetings with Roytman as insurance, according to the FBI.
Elson had given them a deadline of March 15 to kill one of the brothers. The Justice Department report said that at the direction of Ukrainian law enforcement, on March 14, one of the hit men told Elson in a recorded telephone conversation that Vyacheslav Konstantinovsky had been killed as promised. They then hid Vyacheslav and had his brother, Oleksandr, file a missing person’s report.
When Elson arranged to make a payment to the men, he was instructed to pay an associate in New York and was videotaped giving $30,000 in cash to an undercover NYPD agent posing as the associate.
According to a report by The Associated Press, investigators believe that Elson himself has been the target of several murder attempts connected to the case. Investigators also told The Associated Press that Elson may have wanted to take over the Konstantinovsky brothers’ businesses, including a major Ukrainian bank, the FBI’s arrest warrant application said.
No connection to ‘nut case’
The Konstantinovsky brothers, who spoke with the Post on March 27 in a posh lounge bar in a five-star Kyiv hotel, didn’t appear shocked by the recent events, although they did say that this was the first attempt on their lives.
The brothers founded and are the top managers of the Kiev-Donbass group of companies, which includes the CarteBlanche restaurant group and Puzata Khata chain of fast-food restaurants. The group also has interests in construction.
Vyacheslav, the brother who was made to disappear, refuted media reports claiming he was sent to a well-protected “secret place” by the police.
“I simply stayed at home for two weeks and watched all the soap operas on TV. I also ate a whole bucket of sunflower seeds,” he said.
The other brother, Oleksandr, denied that either of them has ever known Elson. Both brothers admitted to knowing Roytman, however, and Oleksandr didn’t think twice when describing him as “a nutcase with paranoia, who has already been to a mental hospital several times.”
“Taking over the business in such way is simply the product of his sick imaginationm,” he added.
Oleksandr said that the last time he and his brother met Roytman was about five years ago, but denied that Roytman had ever worked for them, as the FBI claims. The brothers also denied having any joint business interests with either Elson or Roytman.
The brothers also said that they did not have a banking business, as also cited in the FBI’s report. They said that the confusion likely stems from Index Bank owning office space in the Kiev-Donbass building. However, Oleksandr said that the Kiev-Donbass group and Index Bank do have common shareholders.Ironically, the same day that Elson and Roytman were arrested in New York, France’s Credit Agricole announced its purchase of 98 percent of Index Bank’s shares.
