[images added by this website, courtesy DEA and http://www.ukar.org]   November 15, 2003   Russian mafia links in disappearance By Natalie O'Brien, Investigations editor JOHN and Suree were married six weeks after they met through Partner Search Australia, a Melbourne dating agency now at the centre of a murder investigation. But even before the wedding day, the couple were getting menacing calls from the agency. They demanded thousands of dollars, John told The Weekend Australian. "They said to me: 'Don't you know how much she is worth?" Then just days after the marriage, Suree vanished. The love story had taken a chilling turn. Over the past three years John has felt trapped in a nightmare. There were death threats. He found evidence the dating agency was connected with prostitution. Last month, the owners of Partner Search Australia were shot dead at their Sunbury property. Istvan "Steve" Gulyas and his girlfriend, Tina Nhonthachith, were cremated last week. Two months after she first vanished, Suree returned home to her husband, then vanished again. He has not seen her since. Like Gulyas, the murdered dating agency boss, Suree had revealed that her life had been threatened. And, like Gulyas, who installed massive security at his property, Suree had begged John to do the same. But even with a steel security door, higher fences and more security lights, they slept with a loaded gun by their bed. Suree never revealed who had threatened her or why. "She was not the same innocent woman I had married," John said. "She was scared and would not answer the phone or go outside without me." An investigation by The Weekend Australian has revealed the authorities were asked to investigate the agency and its shady operations when Suree first disappeared. They were told Asian women working as prostitutes were being held at an address in Coburg and at the Sunbury property. A joint operation by the Immigration Department and state and federal police did not find enough evidence to continue an inquiry. Frustrated, John complained to the federal Ombudsman and wrote to his local member. Senator Kay Patterson, then parliamentary secretary to the Immigration Minister, told him that contrary to what the AFP had told him immigration "continues to have an interest in the operations of Partner Search and Suree". The case was reviewed again in May this year, at the height of revelations in The Australian about the extent of sex trafficking in Australia. But an Immigration spokeswoman said no fresh leads had been found. But since the initial investigation, John has received phone calls from a frightened Suree, begging him for a airline ticket. A letter arrived for Suree from a Thai woman in Australia. It appears that the letter writer "Oi" may have been a "contract" girl being kept against her will. She wrote: "I want to return to Thailand but I can't my visa is not at the end of my contract." In the past few weeks more allegations surfaced that the agency was a front for an illegal brothel and that the couple had links to the Russian mafia. John said authorities had been watching the organisation and "trying to paint a bigger picture". While he was searching for Suree, John was warned by associates of Gulyas that the dating agency boss was a dangerous criminal. Rummaging through Suree's possessions he found a diary with notations of amounts of money. There were telephone numbers of businesses, a cafe and escort companies. He sent them to federal police who assured him Suree was safe in Thailand. They never told him how they knew. Yet Immigration officials told him she never left the country. Confused, he has continued looking for her and just weeks ago was told Suree was still in Melbourne but to "forget" her. But he can't. John wants to know what happened to his wife.   Portrait of a modern slave trader, Ludwig Fainberg | Excerpts from Robert Friedman, "Another Ukrainian Jew Makes Good," The New Yorker, Apr 10, 2000 Outrage in Berlin Conservative German politician claims Jews are "a Race of Perpetrators" Report slams Israel on sex slavery Real History and the brains behind the international drugs trade Three Israeli nationals were arrested and accused of trying to smuggle $42 million worth of hallucinogenic Ecstasy pills to the United States from Belgium, the largest such drug seizure ever in Europe, U.S. Police raid Michel Friedmanns house for cocaine. Drogenrazzia beim Vizepräsidenten des Zentralrates der Juden in Deutschland, Michel Friedman | Berlin police seize drugs haul at home of Germanys Jewish leader and TV star Michael Friedmann | Jews ponder Michel Friedmans future after Berlin police seize drugs haul at his home | Friedman-Verteidiger schickte Fax an Pizzabäcker Dr Andrew E Mathis tries to frighten off prof Tony Martin from lecturing Cincinnati conference on Jewish origins of the slave trade | Jewish journalist attacks Prof Martin for his revelations

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