Leonid "Tarzan" Fainberg also known as Ludwig Lyosha Fainberg[1] (born January 3, 1958) is a Ukrainian mobster. Born in Odesa, Fainberg left the Soviet Union in the early 1980s for Israel, and moved to the United States following the fall of the Soviet Union. In the mid-1990s, Fainberg attempted to purchase a Soviet diesel submarine for use in drug smuggling for a Colombian cocaine cartel.[2] Fainberg lived in Miami between 1990 and 1997 and owned a topless bar called Porky's, named for the movie.[3] He was arrested and convicted of smuggling and racketeering.He spent 30 months in jail before his trial and conviction.[4] As of October 2012[update] he was in Panama, jailed and awaiting trial for pimping.[5]
After being released by a judge from La Joyita Prison in Panama, the prosecutor appealed the release and wanted to retry the case. Authorities were going to re-arrest Tarzan and his accomplice Tony Galeota.[citation needed] The two fled from Panama to Costa Rica. They hid until they could get their passports stamped, which would allow them to leave Costa Rica. Tarzan fled to Cuba and returned to Moscow. The story of how three hustlers schemed to sell a Soviet submarine to a Colombian drug cartel for $35 million. The book of his life Operation Odessa is written by David Serero.[6]
References edit
- ^ See generally In re Apache Trading Group, Inc., 210 B.R. 869 (Bankr. S.D. Fla. 1997), at [1].
- ^ Navarro, Mireya (1997-03-07). "Russian Submarine Drifts Into Center of a Brazen Drug Plot". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-04-23.
- ^ Timothy K. Smith (December 25, 2014). "5 business calamities that delivered world-class entertainment". Fortune.
- ^ "Redfellas". The Economist. Vol. 342, no. 8008. March 15, 1997.
- ^ "Meet Leonid Fainberg, The Ultimate Ukrainian Mobster". New Statesman. Kiev, Ukraine. October 14, 2012. Archived from the original on December 25, 2012. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
- ^ OPERATION ODESSA : The true story of a Jewish Russian Mobster, Cuban Spy, Miami Playboy, who hustled the Russian Mafia, the Cali Cartel, and Pablo Escobar.