Saturday, December 02, 2006

Blackmail

We now learn that Alexander Litvinenko was blackmailing Russian oligarchs. See the Guardian story here and the Times here. A few excerpts:
Litvinenko claimed to have made contact with senior sources in the heart of the FSB, the successor to the KGB, who would supply him with a stream of confidential dossiers on any target that the 43-year-old exile requested.

These documents would, according to Litvinenko, be used to 'blackmail' some of Russia's most shadowy and formidable figures. It was simple: either they would pay or the world would learn their blackest secrets.
And...
Although he described himself as a journalist, Litvinenko tried unsuccessfully to muscle in on several lucrative business deals with Russians.

On the day that he fell ill he was attempting to broker a gas and oil exploration deal involving a British conglomerate that he claimed to represent. He was envious of the money that many of his former colleagues were making.
Litvinenko's crankish anti-Putin writings are now sought-after collectables. A largely unread flack for Berezovsky is now viewed as a martyr and a prophet. Putin surely would have foreseen that assassination would credibilize an otherwise insignificant "publicist" (to use a term that saw circulation in old Russia). But the targets of Litvinenko's blackmail attempts had motives that were very real and pressing.

So far we have no proof that Alex hit Berezovsky up for blackmail cash. So far.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Joe---you probably have read much of this- but just in case,

http://www.atlanticfreepress.com/content/view/262/32/

berezovsky
http://www.guardian.co.uk/russia/article/0,2763,1416814,00.html

http://www.forbes.com/free_forbes/1996/1230/5815090a_6.html

http://www.paulklebnikovfund.org/vogue.html

http://www.forbes.com/business/2006/11/09/russia-klebnikov-murder-trial-biz-cz_hb_1109klebnikov.html


goldfarb info:

from the archives-interesting resume. why do you think the media in the US chooses not to mention that Goldfarb is a microbiologist- entertaining really:
http://jcgi.pathfinder.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,962655,00.html

http://en.for-ua.com/news/2005/10/28/140702.html


fascinating little letter to the editor dated back on Sept. 13, 2006
http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:twXu6_XK34gJ:www.baltictimes.com/letter_to_the_editor/+%22initiated+in+the+Baltic+state+by+Neil+Bush.%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1


get your polonium 210 here---or just light up:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/11/29/polonium_available_online/

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/01/opinion/01proctor.html

cigarette companies wouldn't want you to know this though...i am sure there are traces of polonium 210 in most areas of london --but what levels will be more important- to all of us.
another reason for me to quit smoking....soon. sigh
keep up the good work

Anonymous said...

ps
I am a little too busy to do the html-and lazy-but if you copy the text and then paste it in the browser window - the entire link will show up in the browser.
that will work for the ambitious reader, at least.
sorry......