Interview · moment 7 of 23
The Mafia as a Substitute Court System
from Russia's Super Mafia · #98
Audio-only archive episode — no video to seek.
2 minGuest
Discussion of how, with courts and police useless amid hyperinflation, businesses turned to gangs (the 'roof') for contract enforcement, making organized crime an alternative state during the 90s.
- 14:09Russians taught the Italian mob in New York about fuel excise tax scams and Medicare fraud schemes.
- 14:23In Soviet times during Brezhnev, the mafia provided a valuable service importing goods and facilitating business when legitimate channels didn't exist.
- 14:49In the 1990s, Russian courts had such massive backlogs and hyperinflation was so severe that the mafia filled the vacuum by enforcing contracts the courts couldn't.
- 15:15A smart 1990s entrepreneur told Tim the most important business decision was choosing which gang to work with, using the Russian term 'roof creature' for protection.
- 15:44If you couldn't trust police or courts to enforce property rights and collect debts, the mafia would step in as a stabilizing business partner rather than just a shakedown operation.
- 16:06In the 1990s, when state structures collapsed, the mob functioned as an alternative state providing order to the economy.
Russian MafiaSoviet UnionMedicareCOSNOSTRO New York