crimes and misdemeanors

Crime Rings That Use Nicknames Are the Most Fun Kind of Crime Rings

ull-length image of Latvian-born dancer, choreographer and actor Mikhail Baryshnikov performing a dance solo from Paul Taylor's 'Aureole', New York City. He was a featured guest artist for the program.
Mike B.? Photo: Photo by Sara Krulwich/New York Times Co./Getty Images

Police have indicted three dozen doctors, lawyers, and “Russian mobsters”  for involvement in a massive insurance-fraud crime. Allegedly, as the Post explains, the group exploited New York’s “no-fault” insurance laws and “generated bogus bills for treatment of injuries that ‘ranged from wild exaggerations to outright fabrications.’” The case is remarkable in its sheer size — the fraud was to the tune of $279 million, and involved more than 100 medical clinics across the city — and in its particulars. Our favorite detail: No fewer than six of the guys involved were named either Michael or Mikhail, and so they went by nicknames, like “Russian Mike,” “Fat Mike,” “Skinny Mike” and “Mike B.”

Poor Mike B. really kinda got the short end of the creativity stick on that one.

Crime Rings That Use Nicknames Are the Most Fun Kind of Crime Rings