It has been 25 years since the training of one of the most feared mobsters in Slovakia. However, Miroslav Sýkora was different from other mobsters
What comes to your mind when someone says the name Miroslav Sýkora? You will probably know and you will know that Sýkora was one of the most feared mobsters in our country. Today, February 6, 2022, exactly 25 years have passed since his death. Miroslav Sýkora’s name is associated with the biggest bank robbery and he was also called the king of the mafia, despite the fact that he was not in power for a long time.
He was very different from other mobsters because he was not an aggressive rapist.
An eternal, but unsuccessful student
He said about the native from Bratislava that he was a very skilful student. He was born on January 1, 1964 and attended the Bratislava grammar school on Makarenkova Street.
His father was a diplomat. After graduating from high school, Miroslav continued his studies – he attended the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. However, Miroslav was more interested in his relations with the related Russian mafia than in his studies, and his studies did not end there.
However, he learned to use the best relationships to his advantage. The first business did not take long – it was an illegal supply of food and alcohol.
source: Screenshot / YouTube / Musik Box atti
After arriving in Slovakia, Miroslav gave the studio another chance. He decided to study journalism, but left the faculty after a short time. According to Zuzana Ondrušková he was very intelligent and surrounded himself by people who listened to him and obeyed his orders.
Together with Šaň Belovič and Takáč, they created the first basis of an organized group in the Bratislava underworld. The first conflicts arose due to the differing views of Sýkora and Belovič.
Sýkora wanted to expand contacts with the Russian mafia, but Belovich was against it. The conflicts ended with the sudden death of Belovič, he probably died behind the wheel of a car from a heart attack.
Belovič’s suspicious death also ended the group’s cooperation. At the same time, we can exist about the Sýkorov family and the Takáčov group since then.
source: Screenshot / YouTube / Mafi 10
The first organized criminal group
After disconnecting from Takáč, the real children of Sýkora were to become Róbert Lališ, Ivan Cuper, Peter Čongrády, Vladislav Bališ and František Borbély.
The band started with the classics of the time. In the 90’s it was now to pick up burnt, prostitution and blackmail. The alleged group traded goods that were not paid on the invoice. Over time, these crimes began to add more thefts, illegal businesses and even contract killings.
Miroslav Sýkora’s influence was really great, so he expanded his group beyond Bratislava. He wanted organized crime to be truly organized and for the groups to help each other. Sýkora managed to unite the biggest mobsters in Slovakia and force them to cooperate.
Sýkora had very good relations with the Slovak Information Service. According to Černák, however, it was a mistake that Sýkora trusted these people too much.
After years of several functional groups, Sýkora could boast of earning about one billion crowns. He wanted to leave the mafia environment, even thinking about entering politics. Róbert Lališ was to take over the Sýkorov groups.
Robbery in Slovak and other problems
Even though Miroslav was determined to end the crime, he did not. He had another opportunity, which would give him a lot of money in his account. He, of course, seized the opportunity.
In January 1996, a huge robbery took place in the Nitra branch of Všeobecná úverová banka. The perpetrators, together with the bank security, stole approximately 180 million money. Thanks to blackmail and threats, the Sýkorovci got to a considerable amount of this amount.
source: Screenshot / YouTube / Musik Box atti
The problem occurred in the division of money. The friendly relations between Miroslav Sýkora and Petr Križanovič, known as Duran, were gone.
Sýkora apparently insisted that he find out to load because it had to be invested. Križanovič saw that Sýkora was investing money in companies and expensive cars, so he did not like his proposal.
Sýkora exacerbated this conflict by issuing an order to remove Križanovič. In 1996, he was attacked. Although the shooting did not bring him to death, doctors had to amputate his leg due to major injuries.
During Križanovič’s stay in the hospital, Sýkora decided to settle the dispute. He wanted to give him money, which Križanovič did not accept. Thus began the war between former friends.
Disruption of gang forces
On the day of Sýkora’s murder, people from all over Slovakia gathered in front of the hotel where the murder took place. They went to look at the corpse that lay there for several hours. Subsequently, these people moved to the Danube Hotel, where there was a large gathering of the main actor in each gang. The Danube has already been run. The Blacks, Pápay and the Sýkors themselves were to be at the meeting.
According to crown witness The victim’s murder victim arrived at the scene at noon on February 6, 1997. He was accompanied by a chauffeur and security guard in one.
The driver parked the car near the stairs to keep the Mafia King close to the entrance. As the driver locked the car, the first crack came from behind him – a bullet from a submachine gun flew through his heart and hit his lungs.
source: Screenshot / YouTube / Musik Box atti
Miroslav Sýkora also fought for his life at that time. The first bullet flew over his right knee, the other two were aimed at his hips. Lying on the ground, he tried to crawl to the car behind which he would hide. He pulled out a Smith & Wesson revolver and fired one shot.
The attackers also recalled Sýkora’s effort to survive. The shooter, who is also responsible for his death, gave the mafia king a shot of a submachine gun. He hit his head, neck and chest nearby. The culprits immediately put in a blue van and fled Bratislava.
The death of Sýkora disrupted the power in the Slovak mafia. Since Černák had such good relations with Sýkora, it was to be expected that he would be the new head of the underworld.
After the murder of Sýkora Černák, Križanovič visited and told him: “I hope you understand in Banská Bystrica as well. I had to do it, I had to remember it with him personally. I’m taking over a group of titmouse now. “
Cernak immediately contacted Lalis and told him what Duran had told him. A few months later, Križanovič was murdered.
source: Screenshot / YouTube / Musik Box atti
Cernak also commented
In 2013, Ľuboš Ferus, Marek Ľupták, Peter Križanovič, Milan Majtan and Richard Benčič were charged with murder. Mikuláš Černák also commented on the murder in 2017.
“I came to Bratislava and I contacted Pápay. He told me it was in front of the Holiday Inn where the murder was supposed to take place. There were police tapes. I don’t know how many we stayed there and we moved to Hotel Dunaj, there were about 30 people from different groups of the underworld from all over Slovakia, ” described for Čas.sk.
Cernak also mentioned an interview with Duran. He described to him the murder of Sýkora and some facts. According to Černák, the rest of the gang were waiting for Ďuran in a van in front of the hotel.
“Benchic, Majtan, and Duran were there,” he mentioned. Ľuboš Ferus responded to the accusations. He claimed that he had a very good relationship with Mir Sýkor.
source: Screenshot / YouTube / Musik Box atti
Who was to be the new leader?
Almost everyone doubted that the new boss of the Titans should be Duran. He couldn’t subdue the group enough for everyone to respect. It was enough that he was in conflict with Miroslav Sýkor. After the murder, the group was called SS – Sýkor’s orphans.
The strongest personalities of the group agreed that the new boss would be Róbert Lališ. However, Ladislav Bališ also had thoughts, who rejected this answer by saying that he would respect Lališ. Čongrády and Borbély also agreed with Lališ.
It was Čongrády who had the same fate as Sýkora. On September 9, 2004, he also went to one of Bratislava’s pizzerias with a security guard. Shortly after he got out of the car, a barrage of bullets struck.
Róbert Lališ also came to the scene. Three assassins were charged with the murder, who confessed to the act as a prosecutor and agreed on guilt and punishment.
The client was Sergei Minajlenko, the owner of the gaming house, who did business with Miroslav Sykor. The lawsuits continued in 2017.
It is interesting that shortly before his death, Lališ received an echo from a police source that they were being intercepted. At that time, Čongrády met with a police officer, whom he informed about what was happening in the environment of Sýkoreka. Lališ immediately came to everyone to cut their SIM cards and get rid of them, but it was too late. Titmouse had someone among them who was bringing secret information out.
We have revised the text, added new information and reissued it. The article was originally published in January 2021.