MOSCOW, April 21 (RAPSI) – Moscow’s Basmanny District Court has issued an arrest warrant in absentia for an alleged mastermind of the murder of a crime lord Vyacheslav “Yaponchik” Ivankov committed in July 2009, the Investigative Committee’s press service reports.

Ilya Simonia is charged with murder, illegal arms trafficking. He has been put on the international wanted list.

In February, the court detained two other defendants Murtaza Shadaniya and Kakha Gazzayev. The both men are also charged with murder and illegal keeping of weapon, the statement reads.

Investigators believe that on July 28, 2009, Shadaniya, acting as a member of an organized gang, murdered Ivankov, a so-called “thief-in-law,” who at the time was the top boss in the criminal hierarchy. Shadaniya allegedly undertook to discretely stake out Ivankov to choose the place, where the murder was to be committed. Together with other co-conspirators he acted as a lookout to ensure safety of the criminal group’s members when committing the murder.

Gazzayev, according to investigators, gave his accomplices a gun for the murder, personally participated in its transportation and keeping and was at the scene during the crime.