Ilia Pavlov
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Iliya Pavlov Naydenov (Template:Langx; August 6, 1960 – March 7, 2003) was a Bulgarian mobster. A banker, financier and philanthropist, he was the leader and founder of Multigroup organization and G-13.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=BBC>Template:Cite news</ref> Throughout his career, he established close ties with members of the Committee for State Security(CSS) and founded Multigroup, an organization infamous for its nefarious activities such as money laundering, extortion, fraud, illegal car purchases and contract killings. Iliya Pavlov also played a critical role during the transition of Bulgaria from Socialism to Democracy by taking advantage of the privatization of the previously state-owned industries.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> His business conglomerates would buy up the enterprises at record-low prices and either sell them or let them go bankrupt. In this way, Pavlov managed to accumulate a great fortune and was even ranked the eighth richest man in Central and Eastern Europe by the Polish magazine Wprost in 2002. He was said to be worth $US1.5 billion.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He was married to Darina Pavlova, who inherited his fortune after his murder.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Death
Pavlov was shot outside his office with a single bullet to the heart by a sniper and died instantly.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The day before his death, he had testified in the trial of the accused murderers of Andrey Lukanov, Bulgaria's first prime minister after the fall of communism who died in 1996. Pavlov had claimed that he had no conflict with Lukanov.
No one has been charged in Pavlov's murder and while several possible theories have been put forth the motive is unknown.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A previous attempt on Pavlov's life was made in 1997 when a bomb destroyed his car. He was not in it at the time.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 2010 Pavlov's sister, Slavka Naydenova, and her 8-year-old son were murdered in Dale City, Virginia. A Russian-American woman who was the wife of Naydenova's ex-husband pleaded guilty to the murders. The motive was jealousy.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Sports career
Pavlov was a former Bulgarian wrestling champion Template:Citation needed who graduated from the National Sports Academy in Sofia.
See also
References
- 1960 births
- 2003 deaths
- 20th-century Bulgarian businesspeople
- Assassinated Bulgarian people
- Bulgarian billionaires
- Deaths by firearm in Bulgaria
- Murdered Bulgarian gangsters
- People from Sofia City Province
- People murdered in Bulgaria
- Sportspeople from Sofia
- Unsolved murders in Bulgaria
- 2003 murders in Bulgaria
- People assassinated in the 21st century
- Bulgarian gangsters