Vitali Dyomochka
From Kazakhstan Encyclopedia
Template:No footnotes Vitali Dyomochka, also known as Bondar, is a Russian mobster and crime boss in the Vladivostok area. He is notable for writing, directing, producing and starring in a short TV series called Spets, which aimed to show viewers the reality of the Russian underworld.
Biography
Although Dyomochka was an A-grade student,Template:Citation needed he was expelled from school and later college.Template:Citation needed As the Soviet era drew to a close, he started his criminal career collecting protection money from local clothing stores as capitalism started to take off.Template:Citation needed
Vitali was convicted of several crimes including extortion and shooting a rival gangster, and after his release from prison in 1997 became the head of the Podstava criminal group.Template:Citation needed The gang specialized in blackmailing money from passing drivers by setting up car accidents.
Dyomochka was also interviewed in the 2010 documentary Thieves by Law.
Spets TV show
Unsatisfied with the way organized crime was depicted in film and television,Template:Citation needed Vitali set about creating his own TV series. Largely financed by his own money, the seven-part series finished production in 2003 and became a huge success, getting close to 100% ratings on a local television station.Template:Citation needed The series drew a lot upon Vitali's own experiences, such as when a driver he had attempted to blackmail turned out to be a judge.Template:Citation needed Over the course of the series ten members of his gang were arrested and one was murdered by rivals.
