Russia's first theft of Maybach 57 was reported yesterday. The car that Megastar producer Viktor Markov bought for 530,000 but insured only for 300,000 will be probably driven to one of the countries of CIS for further re-sale.

According to Moscow police, the limo was stolen near De Marco cafe, Smolenskaya-Sennaya Square, where Viktor Markov, 58, arrived at roughly 10:00 p.m. for a business meeting.

After the producer entered the cafe, the unidentified criminals approached his driver, who was standing near the car. They poked him by "an object like a gun" and ordered to take a back seat. When the driver opened the back door, the criminals knocked him senseless on the head.               

The driver came round on the floor of Maybach 57 that was moving to southern Moscow. He was released in an hour or an hour and a half outside the Moscow Ring Road and immediately called Markov, who was looking for his car along with the driver.

Markov's car is the first Maybach hijacked in Russia since the start of official sales in 2003. According to detectives, a gang of criminals, mostly the natives of the Caucasus states, is hijacking elite cars in Moscow. Three Bentleys driven away in September were probably their catch; none of them have been found so far.

The forecast of detectives is that Markov's Maybach will be driven to one of the countries of CIS, Kazakhstan or Ukraine for instance. Once re-sold, the car will have a bona fide purchaser and stripping him or her of a new Maybach will be next to impossible.