Post by Scumhunter on Oct 7, 2015 2:31:36 GMT -5
(Above photo credit: amw.com archives)
Fugitive Profile as of October 7th, 2015: (based on 2011 AMW archive)
Full Name: Leonid Ilich Kogan
Sex: Male
Race: White
Current Age: 34-36
Height: 5'8
Weight: 180 lbs
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Brown
Traits & Habits: Kogan is from the Ukraine and speaks with an accent.
Who to call if you've seen him: Based on wanted location, our advice would be to call Bay Area Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS
Although I'm unsure if Leonid Kogan was aired on AMW, he was on their website at the very least. After thinking I had no info on this case, I was able to salvage a partial description of his alleged crime(s) from the AMW archives which I will post below:
"Police say that on September 11th, 2005 Kogan and two friends, Almazbek Almaz Diushembev and Igor Vishnevskiy ,attended an 450 person event at the Avalon night club in Santa Clara. The particular night was hosted by another Russian promoter, 22 year old Nikita Kozlovski. Authorities believe that Kogan and his friends approached Nikita moments after he entered the club. Cops say that Kogan claimed that he wanted to talk business. Once outside the club cops say Almaz put Nikita in a chokehold and forced him into Kogan's 2005 Mercedes. Within minutes Vishnevskiy was driving the three men down the 101 freeway. Police maintain that Almaz kept Nikita in a chokehold while Kogan spelled out the new partnership. Nikita would pay Kogan 45 of his clubland earnings and that Nikita paid an initial sum of 1400 by 3pm the next day. Kogan allegedly told Nikita that if he didn't comply he would end up like Eugene Gorenman, another Russian promoter who was killed on March 29th, 2004. Kogan and his cronies let Nikita out of the car and warned him not to involve the police, however two hours later that's exactly what he did.
Leonid Kogan was arrested on September 23thm 2005 on charges of kidnapping and threatening a witness. He was freed after his bail was reduced from 5 million to 250,000 by order of a Santa Clara County judge. The Kogan family appeared in court to attest to Leonid's character and lack of any prior criminal activity. However when Kogan was indicted in November he disappeared soon after. Initially police believed that Kogan had fled to Mexico to hide out until he could return to the Ukraine. That's where authorities believe that Leonid Kogan currently resides and are working with the State Department and Interpol to nab Kogan if he leaves the country since the US has no extradition treaty with the Ukraine. Furthermore, Kogan's stateside bail bondsman has been flyering and offering a reward for information on Kogan in his hometown of Odessa. Kogan's two partners in crime Almaz Diushembev and Igor Vishnevskiy were both arrested. Police say that Almaz's identity was a mystery since he was unknown to many of Kogan's associates The Asian featured native of Kyrgyzstan came to the US to complete a master's degree at the University of Montana. After the incident with Kogan he returned to Montana and was planning to flee the country when he was picked up by police at a local train station."
Thoughts? First of all, I looked up Eugene Gorenman and it turns out he was murdered because three young girls lured him to them in order to steal his car and wallet. So it seems like Kogan and company, dangerous or not, were bluffing about Gorenman in order to intimidate Nikita.
The problem I see here is since this archive is like a decade old, Kogan can be anywhere by now. And if he did make it back home to the Ukraine, then authorities are pretty much screwed, since we've seen guys on the FBI's Top 10 list (*cough* Semion Mogilevich *cough*) possibly hiding in Ukraine or Russia that aren't being extradited either.
www.inarchive.com/com/a/amw.com/7941/2011-11-17-description/22/AMW_Fugitives_Gary_Kerpen_Brief/
www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Teen-girls-enticed-S-F-man-to-his-death-3251623.php
UPDATE: I could find no recent articles about this case in the past few years. As far as I can tell, Kogan is still at large as of this update (7/21/2018). However, if anyone has any updates/proof-of-updates one way or the other, they are always more than welcome to let us know.
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