[2] The firm provided protection to high ranking Saint Petersburg officials, including the city mayor Anatoly Sobchak and his family, as well as the vice-mayor Vladimir Putin.
[1] In this role, Tsepov also acted as an "intermediary between Putin and business" through which "Baltic Escort" collected the "black cash" (Russian: "черный нал").
It is rumoured that the real reason for the arrest was the collection of "protection" money to secure gambling licenses from the city office of Vladimir Putin.
[7][8][9] Upon Vladimir Putin's coming to power, Tsepov became one of the most influential figures in the financial and political life of Saint Petersburg.
Tsepov's power and influence were attributed to his close association with then Minister of Internal Affairs Rashid Nurgaliyev, the chief of Presidential Security Service Viktor Zolotov (Zolotov attended Tsepov's funeral[11][12][13]) and deputy head of presidential administration Igor Sechin.
On the same day, he felt unwell after which a very serious disease developed with symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhoea and a sudden drop of white blood cells.
[26] Alexandra Tsepova sold her apartment to Dina Tsilevich (Russian: Дина Цилевич; born 1968 or 1969) who is a close friend of Svetlana Krivonogikh, allegedly owns the building at which Baltic Escort is headquartered, and is allegedly the mother of Viktor Zolotov's son.