He is a Russian arms dealer named Viktor Bout. ‘ A former Soviet military translator turned entrepreneur, Bout is suspected of using his numerous air transport companies since the fall of communism in the 1990s and early 2000s to smuggle weapons from Eastern Europe to Africa and the Middle East.
Net Worth of Viktor Bout
Russia’s arms dealer Viktor Bout is valued at $50 million on the internet. Many of Viktor Bout’s numerous air transport companies are believed to have transported a fortune in weapons to the Middle East and Africa after the Soviet Union’s demise.
Early Life
During the 1990s and early 2000s, it was reported that Bout, who was born on January 13th, 1967, in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, used his numerous air transport companies to smuggle weapons from Eastern Europe to Africa and the Middle East.
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Trade in Weapons
Bout is said to have smuggled a wide variety of weapons from Bulgaria to Africa between 1996 and 1998, possibly for use by UNITA in the Angolan Civil War, according to a number of reports. Charles Taylor‘s first civil war in Liberia was allegedly aided by weapons supplied by him. During the Yugoslav Wars, Bout was also accused of arms smuggling.
An airline company in Tajikistan was established by Bout and his associate Richard Chichakli in 2004 as a front for money laundering. A surface-to-air missile shipment to Kenya for use in an attack on an Israeli plane is one of the claims he is accused of making during this period of time. Additionally, Bout is said to have a significant commercial presence in Libya. Because he was constantly on the move, operating multiple companies, and frequently registering his planes, authorities were never able to bring charges against him for African arms smuggling.
Extradition and Arrest
In 2000, Bout was convicted in absentia in the Central African Republic for forging documents; the charges were later dropped. Interpol issued a red notice on Bout two years later for money laundering charges. As a result of Bout’s lack of a permanent residence and the inability to prosecute the case in a timely manner, the case was ultimately dismissed. Executive Order in the summer of 2004 froze Bout’s assets in the United States.
By early 2008, the Drug Enforcement Administration organized a sting operation targeting Bout. After that, he was apprehended in Bangkok, Thailand, after the United States had issued an Interpol red notice for his arrest. Extradition proceedings were held in Bangkok later this year.
Despite a ruling in favor of Bout by the Bangkok Criminal Court in August 2009, a US appeal overturned the decision in October of that year. Bout was extradited to the United States in late 2010 as a result.
Because of this extradition, Russia’s government has been in an uproar, claiming it was politically motivated. After the Russian government imposed sanctions on anyone involved in the extradition, the Russian people responded.
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Viktor Bout’s Wife Alla Bout
St. Petersburg, Russia-born Alla Bout is the wife of Russian smuggler Viktor Bout. She is around the age of 52. The birth date of Viktor’s husband is 13 January 1967 in the city of Dushanbe, Tajik SSR, Soviet Union. They are holding him in Marion Federal Penitentiary at the time of this writing. Only three years separate him and his 55-year-old wife Alla in terms of age.
As a result of an arrest warrant issued by the US government in Bangkok, Viktor Bout was detained in the Thai capital. He was just 40 years old at the time.
Alla Bout and her daughter have decided to stay in the United States for an extended period of time in 2019 in order to visit their father and husband who are both in prison. However, they eventually made their way back and are now settled in Moscow, Russia.
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