A hitman who allegedly shot a wealthy Russian banker in London was acting for a Moscow mafia gang with a reputation as one of the most dangerous in the world, it was claimed today.
German Gorbuntsov, 46, was shot six times in the attack on the doorstep of his Canary Wharf flat in March last year. He narrowly survived and is now under 24-hour armed police protection at a secret location in Britain. The lone gunman discarded a Makarov pistol outside Mr Gorbuntsov’s flat on the Isle of Dogs.
Last month, Russian police said that they believed they had arrested the gunman after an international arrest warrant was requested by Romanian police over a separate shooting in Bucharest.
The suspect was named as a Moldovan professional hitman, Vitalie Proca, who had fled to Moscow following the shooting in Bucharest.
Moldovan police now say that Proca is employed by eastern European mafia groups to eliminate rivals.
Sources have told the Guardian that he is linked to a sprawling criminal network active in Moldova and Romania and responsible for contract killings, robberies, prostitution, drugs and cigarette smuggling.
While Proca, 33, was hired by a Moldovan gang to kill Mr Gorbuntsov in London, the order came from the Moscow-based Solntsevskaya group, one of the most powerful Russian organised crime groups. Moldovan prosecutors say wiretap evidence reveals the gang discussed how Gorbuntsov “cheated” them out of £330 million and in February an order was given to “disappear” the businessman.
Known as The Black Banker he was under investigation in Moldova at the time for alleged fraud and money laundering. Moldovan police say they believe Proca entered Romania and Italy before travelling on to London. Flight records suggest he returned to Moldova three days after the London hit. He is said to have been jailed for life after a robbery in Moldova in 1997 when he beat two women to death with an iron bar but he was mysteriously released by a judge in 2010 after serving 12 years.
