MOSCOW, October 25 (RAPSI) – A criminal case against alleged member of the notorious criminal syndicate, Orekhovo gang, Igor Sosnovsky, who stands charged with 16 killings and 5 attempted murders, has been forwarded to court for hearing, the statement published on the Investigative Committee’s website on Wednesday reads.

Sosnovsky has been on the international wanted list since 1998.

According to investigators, the gang committed at least 50 killings and attempted assassinations in Moscow, the Moscow and Vladimir regions, Greece and Ukraine. The most notorious hits include the murder of the head of Foundation for Social Support to Athletes, Otari Kvantrishvili, in 1994; the murder in Greece of infamous hitman Alexander Solonik and his friend Svetlana Kotova; and the murder of major crimes police investigator Yury Kerez in 1998.

Moreover, several members of the criminal group including Sosnovsky have been charged with the murder of prominent lawyer Tatyana Akimtseva, who had represented the interests of the victims in an Orekhovo gang trial, and her driver in September 2014. Investigators claimed that Sosnovsky had performed the murder along with his accomplice Sergey Frolov.

The gang was active since the early 1990s and included more than 30 members. Over 10 individuals have been already convicted and sentenced. The criminal syndicate’s leader Dmitry Belkin was sentenced to life in prison in October 2014.