In 1968, at the age of 22, Mogilevich earned a degree in economics from Lviv University.
In the early 1970s, Mogilevich became part of the Lyuberetskaya crime group in Moscow and was involved in petty theft and fraud. He served two terms (3 and 4 years) for currency-dealing offenses.
During the 1980s, tens of thousands of Ukrainian and Russian Jews were emigrating to Israel on short notice and without the ability to quickly transfer their possessions. Mogilevich would offer to sell property on behalf of the prospective émigrés, promising to forward the money on to Israel. The money was, instead, used to invest in black market and criminal activities. In 1990, already a millionaire, Mogilevich moved to Israel, together with several top lieutenants.
In 1991 Mogilevich moved to Hungary. In 1994, Mogilevich group obtained control over Inkombank, one of the largest private banks in Russia, getting direct access to the world financial system. The bank collapsed in 1998 under suspicions of money laundering. Through Inkombank, in 1996 he obtained a significant share in Sukhoi, a large military aircraft manufacturer.
In May 1995, a meeting in Prague between Mogilevich and Sergei Mikhailov, head of the Solntsevo group, was raided by Czech police. The occasion was a birthday party for one of the deputy Solntsevo mafiosi. Police had been tipped off that the Solntsevo group intended to execute Mogilevich at the party over a disputed payment of $5 million. But Mogilevich never showed and it is believed that a senior figure in the Czech police, working with the Russian mafia, had warned him. The Czech Interior Ministry imposed a 10-year entry ban on Mogilevich, while the Hungarian government declared him persona non grata and the British barred his entry into the UK, declaring him "one of the most dangerous men in the world".
Both Mogilevich and his associate Mikhailov ceased to travel to the west in the late 1990s, although Mogilevich retains an Israeli passport. In 1997 and 1998, the presence of Mogilevich, Mikhailov and others associated with the Russian Mafia behind a public company trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX), YBM Magnex International Inc., was exposed by Canadian journalists. On May 13, 1998, dozens of agents for the FBI and several other U.S. government agencies raided YBM's headquarters in Newtown, Pennsylvania. Shares in the public company, which had been valued at $1 billion on the TSX, became worthless overnight. As to Mogilevich himself, government law enforcement agencies from throughout the world had by now been trying to prosecute him for over 10 years. Until 1998, Inkombank and Bank Menatep participated in a US$10 billion money laundering scheme through the Bank of New York.
Mogilevich was also suspected of participation in large scale fraud, where untaxed heating oil was sold as highly taxed car fuel. Estimates are that up to one third of sold fuels went through this schemed.
On October 22, 2009, he was named by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as the 494th fugitive to be placed on the Ten Most Wanted list.
Fraud by Wire,
RICO Conspiracy,
Mail Fraud,
Money Laundering Conspiracy,
Money Laundering,
Aiding and Abetting,
Securities fraud,
Filing False Registration With the Securities and Exchange Commission,
False Filings With the Securities and Exchange Commission,
Falsification of Books and Records
