Otar Kvantrishvili
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Otari "Otarik" Kvantrishvili ( - April 5, 1994) was a prominent member of the Russian mobster up until his death in 1994.
A former sportsman who was convicted of rape in the 1960s, Kvantrishvili set up an organisation for retired athletes. The organisation was, in fact, a front for Kvantrishvili's extortion empire. After the break up of the USSR at the end of 1991, Kvantrishvili found himself a place in the politics of the mafia as a mediator during the mob wars, especially those of 1993-1994.
However, his position of power was short-lived, as in 1994, on leaving a Moscow bath house surrounded by bodyguards, a marksman on the roof of an apartment shot him dead. Though the identity of the marksman still remains unknown, some believe it was Alexander Solonik Russia's top professional killer. Iosif Kobzon, a pop-singer from the Brezhnev era and shady political figure, expressed sorrow at the loss of Kvantrishvili during his funeral.
Sources;
- Bandits, Gangsters and the Mafia (Martin McCauley)
- Darkness at Dawn: The Rise of the Russian Criminal State (David Satter)
