Tokhtakhounov, whose age was given by Comey as 53 or 62, is a "major figure in international Eurasian organized crime," Comey said. Born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and now a Russian citizen, he is known as Taivanchik, or Little Taiwanese, for his Central Asian ethnic background. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, he has been implicated in arms trading and Russian art smuggling, and in the Russian news media he was accused of complicity in a plot to extort $10 million from the head of a Russian sports foundation. He appears to have moved to France in 1989, according to news media reports, and is reported to have Israeli citizenship also. Comey said Tokhtakhounov had three residences in Italy: Forte dei Marmi, Rome and Milan. The complaint against Tokhtakhounov's traces his contact with figure skating to 2000, when he proposed to Gailhaguet the creation of a professional hockey team in Paris that would provide revenue for the French Skating Federation. ( Gailhaguet and Anissina are not referred to by name in an accompanying FBI agent's affidavit, but by their descriptions their identities are obvious.) In return, Gailhaguet told the FBI on Feb. 23 as the Olympics were taking place, Tokhtakhounov asked for Gailhaguet's help in renewing his French visa, which was about to expire. But when Gailhaguet sought guidance from a French government official, he was told that "Tokhtakhounov's money is bad," the affidavit said. The federal complaint offers many details of the alleged conspiracy, including excerpts from a transcript of the Italian wiretaps. later suspended Le Gougne and Gailhaguet for three years. The federal complaint did not describe the possibility of a wider conspiracy or any contact between Tokhtakhounov, or his unnamed co-conspirators, with Le Gougne. "We have alleged no connection between this man with any officials other than with Russian federation officials," James B. Comey, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said at a news conference. He said that Tokhtakhounov "reached out to a co-conspirator, somebody connected to the Russian Skating Federation, who did the legwork for him."

Which countries did Tokhtakhounov extort money from which countries?

Boone, Ia. -Poor and elderly people may soon go without legal representation in Boone County. Boone County Legal Aid, which for 31 years has provided legal services to those who couldn't afford them, will close in February if a $10,000 grant from Prairie Meadows Racetrack and Casino is not awarded. The legal service is one of the few programs in Iowa that offers legal representation to those who qualify without turning to the state for its services. "It is a very sad situation, but that's the fact," said Alan Schroeder, city attorney and supervisor of Boone County Legal Aid. For the past two years using money mostly from the city and county, Schroeder has upheld the outfit alone, taking on about 60 clients a year, and settling cases that range from domestic abuse to bankruptcy. He also has a private practice. If the legal service closes, he's unsure where his clients will go. The city of Boone gave Schroeder $6,300 in July to resolve pending cases, said Kathy Berg, Boone's finance officer. Without that, the program might already be closed. "All governments are having problems with finances," Boone Mayor George Maybee said. "No one else stepped in. The county didn't. The state didn't." Donovan Olson, chairman of the county Board of Supervisors, said the board quit funding the legal service in July because it felt the county didn't need it. Drake University ended its funding after the 2000 spring semester "for a variety of reasons," Suzanne Levitt, the law professor who oversaw the program, said via e-mail. Olson said Schroeder must prove Prairie Meadows is the primary money source for the board to grant the program any more money. Schroeder ran the program without the help of law students or Drake, which had provided as much as two-thirds of the money in some years.

How much was given to Schroeder to resolve cases of which prevented the program to be closed?

The Glory of Melaka: In the early days, if you were not a pirate or a mosquito, Melaka was not much of a place to live. The land was infertile, just a swampy plain, the river small and sluggish. But it had a sheltered harbor, protected from the monsoons by neighboring Sumatra. Later, the strategic location and deep-water channel close to the coast brought in the bigger vessels of the trade-wind traffic crossing the Indian Ocean. The first to realize the larger commercial potential, as so often throughout the country's subsequent history, were the Chinese. In 1409, under a new directive from Emperor Chu Ti to pursue trade in the South Seas and the Indian Ocean, a Chinese fleet of 50 ships headed by Admiral Cheng Ho called in at Melaka. They made Parameswara an offer he could not refuse: port facilities and an annual financial tribute in exchange for Chinese protection against the marauding Thais. In 1411, Parameswara took the money to Beijing himself, and the emperor gratefully made him a vassal king. Twenty years later, the Chinese withdrew again from the South Seas trade. The new ruler of Melaka, Sri Maharajah, switched his allegiance to the Muslim trading fraternity by marrying into the Muslim faith, wedding the daughter of a sultan in Sumatra. Islam won its place in Malaya not by conquestas had been the case in North Africa and Europebut by trade, dynastic alliances, and peaceful preaching. Bengali peddlers had already brought the faith to the east coast. In Melaka and throughout the peninsula, Islam thrived as a strong, male-dominated religion of individuality, offering dynamic leadership and preaching brotherhood and self-relianceall qualities ideally suited to the coastal trade. At the same time, Sufi mystics synthesized Islamic teaching with local Malay traditions of animistic magic and charisma, though Islam did not become the state religion until Muzaffar Shah became sultan of Melaka (14461459). But the key figure in the sultanate was Tun Perak, bendahara (prime minister) and military commander. He expanded Melaka's power along the west coast and down to Singapore and the neighboring Bintan islands. He also had orang laut pirates patrolling the seas to extort tribute from passing ships. After Ailied district chiefs had repelled assaults from Thai-controlled armies from Pahang, Tun Perak personally led a famous victory over a Thai fleet off Batu Pahat in 1456.
In what year did Parameswara take the money to Beijing?