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Home » Avtandil Khurtsidze stabbed in the face, suffers multiple injuries

Avtandil Khurtsidze stabbed in the face, suffers multiple injuries

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  • 4 min read

The 39-year-old, arrested in 2017 on the eve of a title challenge at middleweight against Billy Joe Saunders, was targeted after a reported row with a Latin American gang.

Khurtsidze has been linked to being involved with an organized crime group in New York City and is currently on remand after pleading not guilty.

A second victim, reported earlier this week, has now been named an alleged kingpin of Khurtsidze’s crime syndicate Razhden Shulaya.

Escalating tensions between Shulaya and Latin rivals in the prison eventually saw him land in hospital alongside Khurtsidze some three weeks ago.

This week, in a Manhattan federal court, details began to emerge of the incident as both men hear charges against them.

No reason was given for the attack, although Khurtsidze and Shulaya were described as ‘having multiple hematomas and stab wounds’ during the proceedings.

Khurtsidze was stabbed in the face and is said to have ‘suffered the most – in a report seen by Crime Russia. Information regarding punishments for the attackers have not been released by the Governor – as of this week.

The trial will ultimately determine what happens to Khurtsidze and the rest of the syndicate, arrested as part of a huge crackdown on organized crime by the FBI and Customs in 2017.

As well as Khurtsidze, 26 other men were arrested, including MMA fighter and former UFC star Levan Makashvili.

In 2017 when the arrests were made, the US Department of Justice released the following statement on The Shulaya Enterprise.

The Shulaya Enterprise was an organized criminal group operating under the direction and protection of RAZHDEN SHULAYA a/k/a “Brother,” a/k/a “Roma,” a “vor v zakonei” or “vor,” which are Russian phrases translated roughly as “thief-in-law” or “thief,” and which refer to an order of elite criminals from the former Soviet Union who receive tribute from other criminals, offer protection, and use their recognized status as vor to adjudicate disputes among lower-level criminals.

As a vor, SHULAYA had substantial influence in the criminal underworld and offered assistance to and protect the members and associates of the Shulaya Enterprise. Those members and associates, and SHULAYA himself, engaged in widespread criminal activities, including acts of violence, extortion, the operation of illegal gambling businesses, fraud on various casinos, identity theft, credit card frauds, and trafficking of large quantities of stolen goods.

The Shulaya Enterprise comprised groups of individuals, often with overlapping members or associates, dedicated to particular criminal tasks. While many of these crews were based in New York City, the Shulaya Enterprise had operations in various locations throughout the United States (including New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Florida, and Nevada) and abroad.

Most members and associates of the Shulaya Enterprise were born in the former Soviet Union, and many maintained substantial ties to Georgia, Ukraine, and the Russian Federation, including regular travel to those countries, communication with associates in those countries, and the transfer of criminal proceeds to individuals in those countries.

Charges:

— The operation of illicit poker businesses in Brighton Beach;

— The extortion of gamblers who became indebted to the Shulaya Enterprise;

— Attempts to extort local business owners;

— Efforts to defraud casinos in Atlantic City and Philadelphia by using electronic devices and computer servers to predict and exploit the behavior of electronic slot machines;

— The theft of cargo shipments, including a shipment containing approximately 10,000 pounds of chocolate confections;

— The use of a female member of the Shulaya Enterprise to seduce men, incapacitate them with gas, and then rob them;

— Attempts to create an after-hours nightclub that would host, among other things, the sale of narcotics;

— The transportation and sale of numerous cases of untaxed cigarettes;

— Plans to pay bribes to local law enforcement; and

— Creation and use of forged identification documents, checks, and invoices.

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