Mikhailov was said to have a leading role in the Solntsevo crime group that rose from extorting money from street kiosks into arms and drug trafficking across the world. However, an extortion case after his arrest in 1989 was dropped and he was acquitted of involvement in an organized crime group in the 1990s. Authorities searched his home in 2002 as part of a probe into kidnapping and extortion, but he has not been charged, RFE/RL reported.
NewsRU wrote that the Russian law that came into effect Jan. 1 allows citizens to appeal to search engines to remove information for various reasons, including information “irrelevant due to the applicant’s subsequent action.” Citizens could demand the removal of a former workplace, or hide the fact they were in prison, for example.
RFE/RL found that certain search results for Mikhailov and his alias on different Russian search engines were met with messages saying that some results may have been omitted in consistence with an information law. The search engine Yandex said that they had so far approved around 30% of removal requests, out of several thousand requests, NewsRU wrote.
Several articles and stories about Mikhailov’s past can still be found outside of Russia on the search engines, but his website depicts him as a former professional wrestler who began work on “commercial activity” after employment as a mechanic and hotel manager, RFE/RL said.
According to his website, his charity fund provides assistance to dozens of organizations, and his website also features a list of awards dating back to 1994. Mikhailov said back in 2014 that his charity work with veterans and widows drew the attention of President Vladimir Putin, who allegedly awarded him a watch.
However, RFE/RL reported that after Mikhailov posted photos of the purported gift on his website, a spokesperson for Putin denied that he had given a gift to him.
