Telman Mardanovich Ismailov is a Russian businessman of Azerbaijani origin who also has Turkish citizenship. He was the owner of the Cherkizovsky market in Moscow and is the founder of the well-known AST group.
Telman Ismailov began his biography in 1956 in the city of Baku and became the tenth of twelve children in the family. His father was an Azerbaijani by origin, and his mother, in addition, also had Jewish roots. Mardan Ismailov was engaged in trade, and he worked hard and with amazing diligence, which is why he constantly needed helpers. Already at the age of 14, Telman began not only to help, but to work fully with his father, and soon became the director of the first and only commercial store in Baku at that time.
In 1973, Ismailov entered the Baku Institute of National Economy, but after compulsory military service he transferred to a similar educational institution - the Moscow Institute of National Economy named after Georgy Plekhanov. According to the distribution, the young man works as an economist at the Ministry of Trade, and later as an expert at Vostokintorg. Then he met with, who at that time worked as the chairman of the commission of the Moscow City Executive Committee. And 20 years later, already being the mayor of Moscow, Luzhkov will personally congratulate Ismailov on his anniversary with the words: Telman! You are our brother! We go with you through life!.
When the enterprise was put into operation, businessman Telman Ismailov asked Turkey to give him a second citizenship, and this request was granted.
However, in November 2015, the public became aware that the ownership of the Mardan Palace hotel was transferred to the Turkish bank Halkbank through an auction sale, as the Russian entrepreneur had a lot of debts to Turkish companies. Today Telman Ismailov is not among the richest people in the country. In 2015, he was officially declared bankrupt by the Arbitration Court of the Moscow Region, and now his sons are the shareholders of the AST group he founded.
In March 2016, the court decision on the bankruptcy of the businessman was canceled. But already in August of the same year, the court again resumed the procedure for declaring the ex-owner of Cherkizon bankrupt. In January 2017, the amount of his debts reached 31 billion rubles. In February, the Arbitration Court included another 8.9 billion rubles in the register of creditors' claims. In March 2017, he decided to start selling his property by auction.
Personal life
In the personal life of Telman Ismailov, everything is stable. He has been married for a long time and raised two sons, Sarkhan and Alekper, who succeeded him in business. Some of the entrepreneur's numerous brothers are also known to the public. For example, Fazil Ismailov several years ago acted as prefect of the Northern Administrative District of Moscow. And recently another brother, Rafik Ismailov, became notorious. He is suspected of organizing the murder of two businessmen - the founder of Lublino Motors, Yuri Brilev, and the owner of a chain of shopping malls, Vladimir Savkin.
Soon, Telman was also accused of this crime. The Basmanny Court of Moscow authorized the arrest in absentia of the businessman, since at that time he left Russia.
Telman Ismailov is a very generous person. All his entourage is accustomed to receiving gifts. Also, the man did not deprive his star guests of such attention. For example, he gave a singer a villa in Turkey, an actress a diamond necklace, a TV presenter and psychologist Ilham Mirzayev a golden Koran, and a platinum watch for the singer. In addition, among Ismailov's acquaintances there are such celebrities as, and others.
More than once they became guests at his birthday party. It was rumored that he provided his plane more than once, while she was still the wife of the President of the Russian Federation. But this at least looks illogical. In one of the interviews, he said that he was familiar with, and their children became friends and even visit each other.
The main hobby of an entrepreneur from Azerbaijan is collecting wristwatches, of which there are over two thousand pairs in his collection. Telman also tried twice to become a co-founder of a football club. In 2010, he became vice-president of the Terek team from Grozny, but took up the club only three years later, organizing a friendly match with the Israeli Beitar from Jerusalem, during which two advantageous transitions of the players were issued. At the same time, Telman was going to acquire the Israeli team as property, but the fans thwarted this deal, after which the businessman lost interest in football.
Telman Ismailov now
All the latest news about Telman Ismailov is related to the criminal case and the "sale" of his property.
In May 2018, the shopping center on Izmailovsky Highway, which also belonged to the AST holding, went under the hammer.
Also this year, Mehman Kerimov, a defendant in Ismailov’s criminal case, was sentenced to 13 years in prison. At the moment, according to the investigation, Telman is the organizer of this crime, while Karimov was the executor. The former owner of Cherkizon has been put on the international wanted list. And where he is today is unknown.
But the seven-star hotel "Mardan Palace" will soon work again. Despite the fact that the media constantly appeared news that the hotel was being plundered, the general manager of the hotel said that they were in talks with travel agencies, discussing the prospects for the summer season of 2018. He also noted that 200 people continue to work in the state. And the main event of the upcoming season will be an Indian wedding with a budget of $10-15 million.
Condition assessment
In 2006, the Cherkizovsky market was the largest center of small-scale wholesale trade in terms of financial turnover. Telman Ismailov himself in 2007 was 76 on the Forbes list. His fortune totaled $260 million.
In 2015, he was included in the list of the 200 richest businessmen in Russia according to Forbes with a fortune of $600 million.
We continue historical excursions around Moscow. Today Cherkizovsky Market, or simply Cherkizon. The tip of the tongue makes its way to the palate, trembles slightly at the sound "r" and touches the teeth. Cher-ki-zones. This is not just a shopping arcade with cheap junk. This is a symbol of the era, a fetid hole on the clean body of Moscow, Khitrovka of our time and an underground city. "Cherkizon" will later enter the Russian language as "Xerox" or "Pampers". We say "Cherkizon" and mean any large clothing market with migrants and counterfeit goods.
Cherkizon was a shelter for visitors from all over the world - Chinese, Arabs, Pakistanis, Indians, Tajiks, Uzbeks, a labor exchange, a production workshop and a brothel.
Markets began to mushroom like mushrooms in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The economic crisis led to the fact that light industry enterprises were closed. If earlier there were, to put it mildly, some problems with things and fabrics, now they have disappeared from the shelves altogether, becoming a shortage. A new word has appeared in the language: shuttle. Shuttles traveled to neighboring countries - Yugoslavia, Romania, then China, Turkey - and brought huge checkered bags from there (often dragged on themselves) with cheap consumer goods. The Cherkizovsky market was rightfully considered the king of the markets; it was not only the center for the sale and purchase of Chinese and Turkish things, but also a large wholesale base. From here things were sent to many markets of the country.
Cherkizon lasted until 2009, when shopping centers were already being built in our cities, which replaced the markets. They tried to close it several times, but to no avail. It was a huge city within a city, from which many people were fed.
Of course, no one knew exactly how much money was circulating in the market (the order was estimated at billions of dollars a year), taxes were not paid from them. The main owner, Telman Ismailov, had good connections in the mayor's office, and was close friends with Luzhkov. Therefore, talk about closing the market for many years was based on the principle "the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing." In 2009, Putin declared that it was time to stop pulling the cat's tail: "Smuggling is a separate issue, and the struggle seems to be going on, but there are few results. The result of the struggle should be imprisonment. Where are the landings?"
It was not only that Cherkizovsky was a breeding ground for illegal immigrants and smuggling. Just at the same time, Ismailov, the owner of factories, newspapers, steamships of the Praga restaurant and the AST group of companies, was opening a luxury hotel in Turkey with great fanfare. He invited Hollywood stars - Richard Gere, Paris Hilton, Sharon Stone - and delivered two hundred kilograms of black caviar on a special flight. The event was also attended by Russian officials, including Luzhkov, and the guests literally rained down money. Not everyone liked this unrestrained fun in times of crisis, because money from Cherkizon, earned inexplicably and not taxed, went to chic and splendor. Perhaps the point is also that Ismailov shared his success with the wrong people: Luzhkov's position was already shaken, a year later he resigned. In general, Cherkizon was a bone in the throat of both ordinary residents of the region, who were forced to coexist with tens of thousands of illegal immigrants, and the top leadership of the country. In 2009, the attack on the market was successful, it was closed, traders - according to various estimates, from 40 to 100 thousand people - dispersed in all directions. Trade pavilions were demolished.
As I said, Cherkizovsky was a city within a city. The police did not enter its territory, security was carried out by the security officer Ismailov "AST-shield". Many illegal immigrants lived there for years and could never get into the center of Moscow: there they were waiting for document checks. Everything was sold on the market: from clothes of all sizes and materials (for children, adults, knitwear, leather and fur, shoes, underwear) to ethnic food and toys. They also traded weapons and drugs from under the counter.
Shoes, underwear, shirts.
Anything your heart desires.
In some places the market was surrounded by a palisade in the old Russian style.
Girl, the best Italian pantyhose! 
Moscow fashionistas bought their pointy boots here.
Here one could go to a doctor (a dentist, a gynecologist, they were also treated with leeches and Chinese herbs) and massage girls from Asia, rent a cheap prostitute or sleep in the toilet (they say that this is how the poorest residents of Cherkizon spent the night).
The market was divided into several parts: New, Old and Small AST, New and just Eurasia, the SDL shopping center, etc. Scheme:
The main trading unit was a container - a small trailer, inside which the goods were laid out. In the same place, behind some kind of screen, in summer and winter they tried on things.
Offending a person without a clan-tribe is easy. Another thing is if you have a diaspora behind you. Therefore, they lived and worked here according to the principle of separating roles by nationality: for example, Tajiks were engaged in logistics (transported goods, brought goods to the shelves), and the Vietnamese worked in a handicraft sewing shop. The size of the Tajik diaspora in the market is evidenced by the fact that a one-of-a-kind official branch of the consulate of Tajikistan was opened here.
Jeans, crockery, fishing tackle. 
An important place in the hierarchy was occupied by Mountain Jews (these include Ismailov and his partner, the former co-owner of the market, Zarakh Iliev). They built a synagogue on the territory of the market. True, not everyone observed Shabbat: on Saturday, the most brisk trade takes place in the bazaars.
Excursions were organized to the market - primarily for lovers of ethnography from among the Moscow bohemia. Here were the most authentic restaurants of exotic cuisines, which were just beginning to appear in Moscow.
The market was served by 4,500 Chinese enterprises, writes RIA. The closure of the market caused a resonance in the Chinese media: some wrote about the unfair decision, others rejoiced at the departure from gray smuggling schemes.
Cherkizon's question had the same effect on Russian nationalists as a red rag on a bull. In 2006, there was a terrorist attack on the market, killing 14 people, and 61 more people were injured. The explosion was arranged by Oleg Kostarev and his colleagues in the national-patriotic organization Spas. During the investigation, it turned out that the terrorists wanted to stop immigration in this way.
In 2013, on the site of the market already demolished by that time, underground sewing workshops were discovered, where things were sewn around the clock. Even earlier there was talk that in Cherkizon there is an underground city with brothels and a casino, adjacent to the "Stalin's bunker" in Izmailovo. In the doss-houses they lived like this:
Not everyone was happy about the closure of the Cherkizovsky market: it was really possible to dress the whole family there very inexpensively. The forums then wrote:
I periodically shopped at Cherkizon. Blouses for 100-150 re. The sundress is also about the same. There was one cheap row there, I loved it very much. You will walk there, tuck in, sometimes decent things come across. What to do now? Isn't there such a cheap product anymore?
FOR EXAMPLE, A FRIEND WANTED TO PURCHASE IN CH. TO THE QUEEN'S SHEETS, AS A RESULT FOUND ONE TO ONE ON THE CHERKIZON TWO TIMES CHEAPER. TURKEY AND CHINA RIGHT!
I was also satisfied with the market. A year ago I went and bought for 3 thousand for my unborn child everything that I liked. I also have rags and jewelry for myself so that I don’t buy special clothes for pregnant women. And my husband has a lot of T-shirts and socks. and gifts for nephews.
In fact, the market, of course, has not disappeared anywhere. It's just that all the sellers have gone to other markets, for example, to Sadovod or Lyublino. As knowledgeable people say, you can remove the market from the city, but you cannot remove the city from the market.
Moscow, 8 November. Devaluation as a synonym for problems. What is it, experienced a well-known businessman Telman Ismailov. The Russian-Azerbaijani tycoon built a hotel in Turkey six years ago for almost $1.5 billion. And recently he was taken away for debts, returning the amount ten times less. The same trouble with other assets of Ismailov. Once there was $5 billion, and now it's $600 million. And those soon may have to be paid back. The brilliance and poverty of the former owner of the famous Cherkizovsky market - in the report of the correspondent of "MIR 24" Roman Nikiforov.
Ismailov named his Turkish hotel in honor of his father - Mardan Palace. Opened it with pomp in 2009. The hotel is not even five, but seven stars. It took 2.5 tons of gold to finish. Around marble, rock crystal. On the beach, sand specially brought from Egypt. The average cost of a room is $18,000 per day. Rest and perform here is prestigious. Shakira, Mariah Carey, Monica Bellucci come to visit the businessman. And here are the shots of this summer - the Russian ballerina and socialite Anastasia Volochkova demonstrates stretching on the balcony of the hotel. And then a message came this week: Mardan Palace went under the hammer. A Turkish bank - Ismailov's creditor - bought the building for $128 million. Although the entrepreneur invested ten times more in it: $1.4 billion.
Ismailov grew up in Baku. His father was engaged in trade: back in Soviet times, the family opened a commercial store, which was then the only one in the city. “See those road signs? There was a shop of Telman Ismailov's father. I remember that this store sold the best fabrics. It has always been crowded here. The store was demolished a couple of years ago. A “Winter Park” was built on the spot,” says photographer Eldar Aliyev.
Only people with great connections who knew how to negotiate had such privileges. The Baku neighbor of the Ismailovs, composer Eldar Mansurov recalls: Telman inherited a commercial vein from his father, and at the age of 16 he became the director of the family store. Telman's charm and ability to conduct business came in handy in Moscow, where he moved in the late 70s. During perestroika, the future tycoon met the future mayor, and then the chairman of the commission of the Moscow City Executive Committee on cooperative activities, Yuri Luzhkov. A video from 2006 speaks eloquently about their relationship. Ismailov celebrates his 50th birthday, and Luzhkov congratulates. “The most important holiday of the year has finally come to us. Telman, you are our friend. You are our friend forever. Telman, you and I go through life. And we rejoice and enjoy this friendship with you and your family. Live always, ”Luzhkov said then.
In 1989, Ismailov opened the AST company, which quickly turned into a huge concern. Restaurants, shopping centers, construction, passenger transportation, security companies. But the main source of income was the largest wholesale market in Eastern Europe - Cherkizovsky, which was nicknamed by the people in the French way - "Cherkizon". 100 thousand merchants, more than half of them Chinese. Cheap consumer goods for every taste, food. Huge shadow trade, according to some estimates - up to 40% of the total. Information about the wrong side of "Cherkizon" was periodically heard in the media, but the security forces did not dare to touch Ismailov for a long time.
The turning point in the fate of the businessman was the opening of that very hotel in Turkey - in the midst of the global financial crisis. The investment of huge funds earned in Russia in a foreign economy. Defiant luxury - the delivery of a centner of black caviar on a private jet, dancing in the rain of hundred-dollar bills. Many regarded it as a feast during the plague. Even the then Prime Minister Vladimir Putin drew attention to the source of Ismailov's well-being. At a meeting in the government, where they discussed the fight against smuggling. “And the struggle seems to be underway, but there are no results. The result in this case - landing in jail. Where are the landings? Look, one of the markets still has goods worth $ 2 billion. The goods have not yet been destroyed. And there are no owners,” Putin said at the time.
Ismailov, however, was not imprisoned after that, but the fate of Cherkizon was decided. Soon the market was closed for numerous violations of sanitary standards. Today, only a fragment of a solid metal fence with the logo of the AST group of companies reminds of the former greatness of Cherkizon. The market began with a wasteland, and turned into a wasteland. On a vast territory that can accommodate two and a half hundred football fields, now there are only landfills and new construction sites. True, they are no longer connected with Ismailov's business.
After the market closed, the businessman's empire began to crumble like a house of cards. The AST group took out loans, but there was nothing to repay. Both Turkish and Russian banks demand to return the debts. For example, the Bank of Moscow, which is part of the VTB group. “Including the penny, taking into account the accumulated interest, the total amount of Ismailov’s debt to the Bank of Moscow is now about $300 million,” said Vadim Sukhoverkhov, head of the VTB press service.
Most of Ismailov's real estate is under pledge. For example, a large shopping center in Izmailovo has recently lost its name. The administration could not explain where the three once happy letters had gone from the facade. The famous restaurant "Prague" on the Arbat is another capital asset of Ismailov. In front of the entrance, the businessman placed both the already familiar AST logo and his scorpion emblem. Although the place is historical. Back in 1872, a cheap tavern opened here. And after the first reconstruction at the beginning of the 20th century, the institution became expensive and prestigious. It is even mentioned in the novel "12 chairs". Ostap Bender called it the best place in Moscow, and Ippolit Matveich took Liza here and spent all the money.
The restaurant is now closed. It has not yet been sold, but the market value is rapidly falling. Once upon a time, they asked for $450 million for the building, now - $150 million. Although experts believe that this amount is too high. “He had everything, but he believed that banks should continue to lend to him. Or restructure, or extend, or lend further. Or declare holidays so that he does not pay interest. But all of his assets were bought with the huge flow of money that Cherkizon gave. As soon as the administrative resource disappeared, the whole great history of the great entrepreneur began to be blown away, ”said Alexander Treshchev, member of the Central Council of the Russian Bar Association, lawyer, Doctor of Law.
But in the small homeland, only good things are said about the businessman. The Babaev family bought their house in the 60s from Telman's father. The entrepreneur himself came here often: a memorable place after all. “Behind the gates of the house I see that Telman himself is standing. I was even surprised. What are you doing there, I tell him. And he told me that he was born here. Since then, we have developed friendly relations. Even when he was on his way to the Geokchay region, he stayed with us. Together they sat down at the richly laid tables. They ate, drank and always talked on good topics,” said Vidadi Babaev, a resident of the Geokchay district. Today the owner wants to sell the house. Posted an ad: that's just the buyer can not be found. There are no offers from Telman either. Apparently, the amount of $45,000 today is too much for him.
The name is now associated with some kind of bloodthirsty monster who created a powerful criminal empire, dividing it into brigades for various purposes. report various facts about the activities of the former oligarch, although previously they were silent about his affairs. A few years ago, the public saw this person only as a successful businessman, an oligarch, for whom almost all roads are open.
As one of the acquaintances of the Ismailov family said, they did not always even know which of the enterprises they owned, the business was so extensive. But this fact most likely refers to some small companies created within the business empire. The big business of the Ismailovs has always been well-known, because it was for the sake of it that the entire criminal empire was created - somewhere to protect against competitors and bandits, somewhere vice versa for raids and expanding spheres of influence. All this is worth a separate material.
The image of Telman Ismailov began to transform in the minds of people from a businessman into a gangster gradually. At the end of the 1910s, such a large-scale figure could not simply be taken and arrested, he had very powerful positions and influence almost everywhere. But already at that time there was some information about the crimes that are now shrouded in darkness.
In 2009, the Cherkizovsky market of the Ismailovs, which was called a state within a state, was closed. Here, different nationalities had their own cities, trading and working in Cherkizon. True, everyone lived modestly - some in the sewers, some in the basements. Those who were more fortunate could live in small buildings, right here in the market. Often, work in the market was slavery - many auxiliary workers did not receive wages at all, in return for which they had a roof over their heads, even a basement, but still ...
Cherkizon's goods were also an interesting mixture - along with legal products, contraband could be successfully sold on the same shelf. And not only household goods were sold at Cherkizon, here transactions were sometimes carried out that any big businessman could envy.
From the story of one of the leaders, he bought weapons through Cherkizon for the needs of the group. The volumes of transactions were quite tangible within the arms black market. It is not known who exactly was behind the gunsmiths, but judging by the story of another person who considers himself to be one of the hunting societies, private individuals had to actually stand in line to the seller who supplied them with weapons.
The editors of the site contacted one of the representatives of the ethnic group in order to somehow shed light on what was happening in the 2000s in Cherkizon. It was this brigade that at one time controlled the supply of contraband goods to the market. The authoritative brigadier David explained that the Cherkizovsky market indirectly extended its presence to the whole of Russia, since most of the goods were delivered here through almost all cities. Wherever the security forces detained wagons or trucks with smuggled goods, most of this mass went precisely to Cherkizon. In a roundabout way, goods were delivered to merchants, some of whom paid a certain percentage to David's brigade. Other sellers were already paying to other groups that had their territories here. It was impossible to meddle in someone else's business, as, for example, when dividing up Moscow businessmen, when the groups were at war with each other.
David admits that, of course, there were some skirmishes, but all of them were severely suppressed by the security service. When the conflict was quite serious, their own arbitrators came into play - people who were chosen as sort of looking after order in Cherkizon. They really could influence the situation, not allowing any enmity to result in mass fights or murders. The police were powerless here, everything was ruled by internal security units, where they also had their own posts.
In general, the Cherkizovsky market is a unique phenomenon. There are several other similar markets in Russia, it is worth remembering the showdown around the Novosibirsk Gusinobrodskaya flea market. But Gusinobrodka was much smaller than its Moscow counterpart, and not only in size, but also in the presence of criminals here. If the Novosibirsk market was almost completely controlled, then Cherkizon was also ruled, having a certain area, and in turn trying not to interfere in the internal affairs of the administration. The groups set up trade in illegal goods, smuggling, and, in turn, subjugated the merchants who were illegal immigrants. It was dangerous to engage in extortion from ordinary sellers here - Telman Ismailov did not like this, and immediately stopped such attempts. Still, the oligarch's security guards were akin to FSB officers, and they tried not to conflict with them.
Outside the law enforcement agencies
On the territory of the market, there was not only its own security service, the rules of which everyone obeyed, but even several illegal banks and cash-out offices. According to the media and various sources, more than $500 million went daily to China and other countries through these banks alone, from where consumer goods were illegally transported. This is money that relates specifically to gray trade. Speaking directly about the owner of the Cherkizovsky market, Ismailov earned an average of $1 million a day from his activities.
Cherkizon consisted of 14 markets, which employed more than one hundred thousand people. According to analysts, about 800 billion rubles annually passed through the entire market complex. Money was cashed out according to a very simple scheme - a person came to the cashier, gave a certain amount, after which he said in which city he wanted to use it. The cashier wrote down the person's data, and then said the address in the city where you can get your money. Everything was done without any documents, based on trust. And indeed, their money given in Cherkizon was subsequently received in almost any city in Russia.
Law enforcement officers did not enter the market, as there was a verbal order not to get involved in the affairs of the market. Meanwhile, when the Cherkizon market was closed for the night, residents of neighboring houses often heard shots and mass swearing in different languages - at night, all the strife between employees, private security companies and the "roofs" of smugglers took place. All this took place without consequences on the part of the security forces, since, according to sources, Ismailov personally received the heads of special services in his mansion and promised that there would be order in the market. Therefore, no one intervened in the mess that was happening in Cherkizon.
As one of the employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs told the site, back in 2006 there were signals about crimes committed in the market. The operatives knew about the same drugs that were sold on the market. However, to get there legally, the signatures of the authorities were required. And accordingly, none of the higher officers allowed such sanctions.
Only in 2009, the prosecutor's office admits that Telman Ismailov managed to buy a lot of people in the highest echelons of power. The chairman of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin himself, said that when you delve into the affairs of the Cherkizovsky market, very influential figures emerge, who provide patronage to the owner of Cherkizon.
Under the Cherkizovsky market there was a real underground city. It is worth remembering that the market was built on the site of the Izmailovsky stadium, and later acquired additional territory. The authorities, even before the Second World War, made two bunkers under the stadium, in which members of the government were supposed to be in the event of an emergency, as well as a parking lot for a tank division. In our time, these dungeons of Cherkizon have turned into a secret underground city where market employees lived (up to 60 people lived on 20 squares), and their weddings and anniversaries also took place. Here, in the Cherkizon dungeon, cheap brothels worked. According to some sources, children were born in the dungeon who, for a long time, did not even imagine that there was life somewhere above.
Cherkizon's dungeon was used not only for its employees, but also there were bunkhouses, a night in which cost only 100 rubles. True, there was no toilet or shower in the bunker, and indeed there was no water supply here. The need was relieved where necessary, so the dungeon had a terrible smell, to which even a permanent resident was difficult to get used to. They lived in conditions of complete unsanitary conditions.
In addition to living rooms with bunks, the bunker had workshops for the production of various goods, on which branded labels were hung. The workers in these shops have not seen the sun for years. Other premises served for the storage of contraband goods coming from China and Vietnam.
Along with consumer goods, the Cherkizon underground was also used as a transshipment base for Afghan heroin. used Cherkizon as a warehouse for drugs.
As those market workers with whom we managed to talk now say, people often slept standing up in the Cherkizon dungeon, as well as in rooms intended for natural needs - the bunker was so packed.
Closing of Cherkizon
In 2006, there was a strong explosion at the Cherkizovsky market. 14 merchants and buyers died. Everyone vied with each other to voice their versions. Whoever said that this was a terrorist attack, who considered it a showdown among merchants, Telman Ismailov himself thought that these were the intrigues of competitors. The answer was unexpected - one of the nationalists, subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment.
The decision to close the market was issued back in 2007, but the market continued to operate for another two years. And only in 2009 it was possible to eliminate the state within the state. However, this was accompanied by a showdown not only in the vicinity of Cherkizon itself, but also in the offices of officials.
In general, people took to the streets to picket, because the market accommodated a hundred thousand workers. The closure of the market has become comparable to the closure of an entire city. True, the majority of illegal immigrants from neighboring Republics found themselves without work. The authorities began to demolish the trading premises, confiscated all contraband goods, and dispersed the underground city of Cherkizon.
The former owner of the Cherkizovsky market, Telman Ismailov, may be involved in 8 murders. His brothers are already defendants in a criminal case. The killers-performers who managed to be detained testify against them. The role of Ismailov himself remains to be seen, but what is already known about his business models is chilling.
Investigators came to the Ismailov brothers after the arrest of this man. In May 2016, Mehman Kerimov was suspected of a double murder on the Novorizhskoye highway in the Moscow region. As Kerimov himself admitted, he killed two businessmen with a pistol.
According to Kerimov, Telman Ismailov's brother, Rafik, was in the car with him. As investigators later established, Rafik Ismailov and the deceased businessmen had known each other for many years. They did business together until the Ismailovs started having problems with law enforcement agencies.
According to preliminary data, the murders for the Ismailovs could be not only a way to remove creditors, but also a whole business model that allowed them to build their empire. Now the media are discussing the involvement of Telman Ismailov himself and his brothers in 8 murders.
“When someone now testifies that he received orders for eight murders, I believe that this is not the final, but the initial page,” says lawyer Alexander Treshchev.
The first murder mentioned was in December 2000. Then they dealt with Andrei Lobanov, the leader of the Koptevskaya organized criminal group, who controlled the wholesale markets in the north of Moscow. They say that the Ismailovs laid eyes on these objects back in the 90s. Satisfying the growing appetites of the Ismailovs became much easier when one of the brothers, Fazil, became deputy prefect of the entire district.
After his resignation, Fazil turned out to be the owner of dozens of trade objects in the Sokol area. But compared to the main business of the family - the Cherkizovsky market - these tents were a trifle. Billions were spinning on Cherkizon. They say that the owners of the market paid a million dollars a month for patronage.
“We can’t go somewhere without official permission from the head. And when you approach him and say: we need to check the point where child prostitution is. Then when they find out that this is Cherkizon, we are told: you have nothing to do?” - says Evgeny Kharlamov, head of the criminal police of the Moscow police department in 2002-2004.
Ismailov littered with money on his 50th birthday. Invited world stars. He built himself a 7-star hotel "Mardan Palace". As a result, Ismailov was summed up by smuggling. As it turned out, the merchant's fortune was built on the labor of illegal migrants, underground workshops, and illegal supplies of consumer goods. Cherkizon closed. Ismailov fled. Now he is either in Turkey or Israel. Until the last days, only creditors to whom Ismailov owed billions of rubles were looking for him. Now investigators will most likely be looking for him.