In this episode of Honor Among Thieves, we sit down with Mike Mazursky — a pen name used to protect the identity of a retired professional armed robber whose real-life story reads like a true crime thriller.
Mike was indicted in Israel for five major heists, including bank robberies, jewelry store hits, and cash exchange operations, but his criminal career stretches far beyond what the courts ever proved. Born in the Soviet Union, Mike escaped Russia with his parents and grew up in Brooklyn, New York, where he became obsessed at a young age with one goal: robbing a bank.
By age 18, Mike began meticulously planning a bank robbery in New York — a plan that took three years to execute. When he finally pulled it off and got away clean, he realized the rush wasn’t what he expected. That realization sent him down a darker, more calculated path: researching countries, prison systems, sentencing laws, and citizenship loopholes to determine where he could operate with the lowest long-term risk.
That research led him to Israel.
Using his Jewish ancestry to gain citizenship, Mike entered Israel believing the legal system and sentencing structure made it the most favorable environment for high-risk heists. After a brief stint in military prison and subsequent release, he launched into a years-long heist spree, committing robberies across the country — only five of which ever resulted in indictments.
But the story doesn’t stop with the crimes.
Mike gives a rare, firsthand account of the Israeli prison system, exposing how Russian inmates, Jewish inmates, and Arab inmates operate within a complex and rigid power structure. He breaks down the Russian “Thieves Code”, an infamous underground criminal ideology, and explains how shot callers, hierarchy, and prison politics truly function behind the walls.
This episode dives deep into:
International armed robbery
Bank heists and professional criminal planning
Israeli federal prison culture
Russian organized crime ideology
The global “Thieves Code” subculture
Prison hierarchy and shot callers
Crime, punishment, and redemption
This is not Hollywood. This is real-life international crime, told by the man who lived it.
🔔 Subscribe to Honor Among Thieves for real stories from the underworld — told by the people who survived it.
Chapters
0:00 – Introduction: Inside the Mind of a Professional International Thief
2:15 – Escaping Soviet Russia: Immigration, Survival & Crime Roots
13:25 – Mike’s First Heist: Planning and Executing a Bank Robbery in America
26:01 – Moving to Israel: Citizenship, Military Service & Criminal Opportunity
39:22 – The Bank Job & Jewelry Store Heist: High-Risk Robberies in Israel
48:27 – The Cash Exchange Heist: Guilt, Pressure & Cracks in the Armor
1:01:40 – Back to the Life: The Dye Pack Job & The Robbery That Got Him Caught
1:14:01 – Arrested in Israel: Prison Intake, Charges & Reality Setting In
1:21:34 – The Thieves’ Code: Inside the Russian Criminal Prison Subculture
1:37:00 – Who Runs Israeli Prison: Russian, Jewish & Arab Power Structures
1:57:28 – Redemption: Life After Crime and Prison
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🔗 Links
📸 Nelson on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/montanatheprophet/
📸 Mike on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/theyoungmanandthegun/
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