- Andrzej Kolikowski
Andrzej Kolikowski nick-named "Pershing" (1954 - 1999) was the leader of the so-called "Pruszków Mafia" in Poland and arguably the best-known Polish gangster of the 1990s. He was assassinated by his enemies while on vacation in
Zakopane .Kolikowski was born in
Ożarów Mazowiecki . He was first arrested by the police at the age of 17. When he graduated from a car service school, he started working for a local cable factory. In 1980s he first went toWest Germany , from where he started smuggling dollars, cars and other goods unavailable in communist-controlled Poland. There he also met his later accomplices:Jeremiasz Barański ("Baranina") andNikodem Skotarczak ("Nikoś"). He invested the money in an illegal casino opened in Warsaw in late 1980s.After Poland regained independence in 1989, Kolikowski formed a group of roughly 100 people supporting his business. Among the best-known of its' members were
Mirosław Danielak (nick-named "Malizna"),Leszek Danielak ("Wańka"),Zygmunt Raźniak ("Bolo"),Andrzej Banasiak ("Słowik") and Adam Szelast ("Szelma"). In 1992 the group joined thePruszków Mafia , the largest and the most influentialmob at the time. As one of its' leaders, Kolikowski started investing in legal ventures:record label s,restaurant s, discos and such. He is also often credited as the person behind the popularity ofDisco Polo music genre, promoted by the labels he owned or sponsored.In 1994 he survived the first of assassination attempts: a bomb had been planted under his car. In August of that year he was arrested by the police, together with 19 members of the
Pruszków group. Accused ofextortion ,handling ,counterfeit andcoercion , two years later he was sentenced to four years in prison. About that time his group divided and one of the off-springs gained notoriety under the command ofMarek Czarnecki ("Rympałek").Kolikowski left prison in 1998 and returned to his former activities. However, by that time the war over control of the Pruszków mafia was raging and his position was seriously endangered. In addition, one of the off-springs created after the arrest of the initial chiefs of the Pruszków group - dubbed the
Wołomin Mafia - gained much influence. While on vacation, Kolikowski was killed in a shooting inZakopane on December 5, 1999.
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