Nik Radev

{{Short description|Bulgarian criminal and mobster}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}} {{Use Australian English|date=May 2011}} {{Infobox criminal | name = | native_name = Ник Радев | image_name = Nradev1.jpg | image_caption = | image_size = | birth_date = 29 January 1959 | birth_place = Yambol, Yambol Okrug, People's Republic of Bulgaria | death_date = {{Death date and age|2003|4|15|1959|1|29|df=y}} | death_place = Coburg, Victoria, Australia | occupation = Mob enforcer, extortionist, drug dealer, wrestler (formerly)<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.theage.com.au/national/bulgarian-nick-dies-in-flurry-of-shots-20030417-gdvk0e.html | title=Bulgarian Nick dies in flurry of shots | date=17 April 2003 }}</ref><ref name="auto">{{Citation|title=Tough Nuts {{!}} Nikolai Radev {{!}} The Invader {{!}} S2E1|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Upnkh4NJfps|access-date=5 December 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bmjGDwAAQBAJ&dq=nik+radev&pg=PT32 | title=Cops, Drugs, Lawyer X and Me | isbn=978-0-7336-4381-1 | last1=Dale | first1=Paul | last2=Petraitis | first2=Vikki | date=25 February 2020 | publisher=Hachette Australia }}</ref> | conviction_status = Deceased | spouse = Sylvia Bruno<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mysterytribune.com/news-criminal-wives-australia-book-rochelle-jackson/|title=News: Criminal Wives of Australia in a New Book By Rochelle Jackson|date=27 February 2012|website=MysteryTribune|access-date=5 December 2019}}</ref> | children = 1 daughter<ref name="auto"/> | parents = | conviction = Armed robbery, assault, blackmail, extortion and rape<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.heraldsun.com.au/truecrimeaustralia/police-courts-victoria/who-really-murdered-nik-the-russian-radev/news-story/bb03f0d090df8e09d533607f5f14bb66|title=Who really shot Nik the Russian?}}</ref> | other_names = The Russian | charge = | conviction_penalty = Short prison terms }}{{Family name hatnote|Minev|Radev|lang=Bulgarian}} '''Nikolai Minev "Nik" Radev''' ({{langx|bg|Николай Минев Радев}}; 29 January 1959 – 15 April 2003), nicknamed '''The Russian''',<ref>{{Cite web |date=2007-07-10 |title=Williams 'feared' blame over Radev death |url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/williams-feared-blame-over-radev-death-20070711-gdql5l.html |access-date= |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en}}</ref> '''Nik the Russian''',<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=17 April 2003 |title=Career criminal Nikolai Radev gunned down in a Coburg street |url=https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/career-criminal-nikolai-radev-gunned-down-in-a-coburg-street-/news-story/700e3238d83fb3b75e1be2a5dcc3602b |website=Herald Sun}}</ref> and '''Bulgarian Nick''',<ref>{{Cite web |date=2003-04-17 |title=Bulgarian Nick dies in flurry of shots |url=https://www.theage.com.au/national/bulgarian-nick-dies-in-flurry-of-shots-20030417-gdvk0e.html |access-date= |website=The Age |language=en}}</ref> was a Bulgarian career criminal and mobster who was involved in crime in Melbourne, Australia.

==Early life== Radev was born in Yambol. In his youth, Radev engaged in wrestling, winning a championship. He also had an extensive criminal record in Bulgaria, having served time in both Bulgarian and Turkish prisons.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Jackson |first=Rochelle |title=Partners and Crime: The True Stories of Eight Women and Their Lives with Notorious Men |year=2012 |pages=19-25}}</ref><ref name="auto2">{{cite web | url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/tough-nuts-thursday-june-30-20110624-1gioe.html | title=Tough Nuts, Thursday, June 30 | date=29 June 2011 }}</ref> Radev emigrated to Australia on 3 July 1980, claiming political persecution in Bulgaria. Australian authorities were unaware of Radev's criminal past and granted him refugee status. After settling in Melbourne, he married Sylvia Bruno and in 1981, he was recorded as working at a fish and chips shop. By 1983, he was unemployed.<ref name=":0" />

Author Rochelle Jackson cited an anonymous source in Bulgaria who claimed that Radev had competed as an international wrestler and was made a member of the Communist Party of Bulgaria for his success, trained in the Soviet Union with the KGB and spetsnaz, and served as a bodyguard to Prime Minister of Bulgaria Stanko Todorov and his daughter Lyudmila. The same source also alleged that Radev was involved in drug trafficking and money laundering in Bulgaria. Jackson acknowledged that the claims are unverifiable, but noted that Radev made statements to his wife indicating past involvement as a companion to a "very wealthy woman".<ref name=":0" />

== Criminal activity in Australia == Radev had a notoriety for his sadistic and ruthless behavior. He was known to terrorise his extortion clients until they complied with his demands.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWoIM5v-13E | title=Nikolai Radev "The Invader" | Australian Crime Stories | True Crime Central | website=YouTube | date=31 December 2022 }}</ref> It was reported that he once raped a man who owed him money in front of the man's own wife and children.<ref name="auto2"/> In another instance, Radev was acquitted of aggravated burglary, during which he shoved the barrel of a gun in the mouth of a man's daughter.<ref name=":1" /> During his life he was jailed for theft assault, blackmail, threats to kill, extortion, firearm offences, armed robbery and drug charges.<ref name="auto"/> According to police he was an enforcer for the Melbourne head of the Russian mafia, robbing drug dealers.<ref name="auto"/> For a time, Radev was also considered a suspect in the 1998 Silk–Miller police murders.<ref name=":1" />

Radev was shot and killed in Queen St, Coburg on 15 April 2003, as part of a series of similar events that are commonly referred to as the Melbourne gangland killings.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/law-order/career-criminal-nikolai-nik-the-russian-radev-lived-and-died-by-the-gun/news-story/700e3238d83fb3b75e1be2a5dcc3602b|title=Gun-toting bully died as he lived|date=16 April 2003|website=www.heraldsun.com.au|access-date=5 December 2019}}</ref>

He was shot seven times in the head and chest in front of his bodyguard after he stood out from his black Mercedes-Benz CLK 500 convertible. A third person in Nik Radev's entourage was driving a light green 2000 Toyota Camry CSI sedan parked directly in front of his Mercedes-Benz near the corner of Queen & Reynard Streets, Coburg also witnessed the murder.{{Citation needed|date=March 2008}} At the time of his death, Radev was indicted on one charge of illegal firearms possession and two rape charges.<ref name=":1" />

Victoria Police told ''The Age'' that they believed his death was planned by a father and son drug manufacturing team, and a hitman suspected of four other murders carried out the killing in a red Ford Falcon XR6 Turbo sedan. His associates Damien Cossu and Alfonso Traglia were with Radev at the time of the murder but claimed they could not identify the gunman, and were subsequently named by police as 'persons of interest'.<ref name="auto"/>

Despite only having worked for eight months during the 1980s at a fish and chip shop, Radev was killed wearing Versace clothing and a $20,000 watch, and was buried in a gold-plated coffin.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Silvester|first1=John|last2=Rule|first2=Andrew|title=Underbelly : the Gangland war|url=https://archive.org/details/underbellygangla00silv|url-access=limited|date=2008|publisher=Sly Ink/Floradale Publishing|location=Australia|isbn=978-0977544066|page=[https://archive.org/details/underbellygangla00silv/page/n76 68]}}</ref> Victorian Police suspect that Andrew Veniamin and Carl Williams were behind the killing.<ref name="auto"/>

==Popular culture== Radev was portrayed by Don Hany in the Australian TV series ''Underbelly'' and the subsequent telemovie ''Underbelly Files: Tell Them Lucifer was Here''.

== References == {{Reflist}}

==External links== *[http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/12/13/1071125712163.html Wise guys, tough guys, dead guys] John Silvester, ''The Age'' 14 December 2003 *[http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/04/19/1050172796294.html Why gangland's bloody code is hard to crack] John Silvester, ''The Age'' 20 April 2003 *[http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/12/22/1071941669860.html Six named in underworld investigations] Steve Butcher, ''The Age'' 23 December 2003 *[http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/12/12/1071125658986.html New lead in Bulgarian Nik's killing] John Silvester ''The Age'' 13 December 2003

{{DEFAULTSORT:Radev, Nik}} Category:1959 births Category:2003 deaths Category:Australian gangsters Category:Bulgarian emigrants to Australia Category:Bulgarian people imprisoned abroad Category:Bulgarian wrestlers Category:Bulgarian people murdered abroad Category:People from Yambol Category:Bulgarian refugees Category:Criminals from Melbourne Category:Deaths by firearm in Victoria (state) Category:Murdered Bulgarian gangsters Category:Prisoners and detainees of Bulgaria Category:Unsolved murders in Australia Category:Victims of the Melbourne gangland killings Category:People convicted of robbery Category:People convicted of assault Category:People convicted of blackmail Category:Bulgarian gangsters