Prosecutors tie Putin to Russian mafia scandal in Spain

SPANISH prosecutors have linked Russian mafia members operating out of Spain with top law enforcement officials and politicians in Moscow, according to a report from Bloomberg Business.
The allegations finger some of President Vladimir Putin’s closest allies, including the chairman of OAO Gazprom, a deputy premier and two former ministers.
In a petition to the Spanish Central Court on May 29, prosecutors detail the results of an investigation into organised crime, particularly the spread of the Russian mafia during Putin’s reign, resulting in a formal request to charge 27 people with money laundering and fraud, among other crimes.
The investigation looks back all the way to 1996, when members of St Petersburg’s Tambov crime syndicate moved into Spain, supposedly to launder illicitly acquired money. The only Russian official today facing possible charges is Vladislav Reznik, alleged to have exchanged key posts for assets in Spain. According to the report, he has property in Majorca that prosecutors are keen to confiscate.
“The criminal organisation headed by Petrov managed to achieve a clear penetration of the state structures in his country, not only with the lawmaker Reznik but with several ministers,” prosecutors say in the report.
Putin’s name comes up three separate times in the report, once mentioning property he allegedly owns in Torrevieja.