Questions Surround Jewelers Death

The murder of a Forest Hills jeweler brought thousands to his funeral Sunday who praised his generosity, despite his alleged ties to a money laundering ring involving Colombian drug dealers.
On the evening of May 20, 46-year-old Eduard Nektalov, whose family owns Roman Jewelry in Manhattan, was walking up Sixth Avenue when a silent gunman came up behind him and shot him twice in the back and once in the head.
Nektalov, a Bukharian Jew and an Uzbekistani immigrant, was known for his generosity within the tight-knit Bukharian community. Three days after his death, more than 1,000 mourners poured down Queens Boulevard to the Schwartz Brothers-Jeffer Memorial Chapel to pay their respects. Many made it inside the chapel but hundreds more listened to the memorial on loudspeakers outside.
Prior to his death, Nektalov, a father of two, was among 11 jewelersincluding his father, Roman Nektalovindicted in Manhattan by federal authorities in a money-laundering scheme that involved smelting gold into household objects. The gold, disguised as belt buckles and other common objects, was then smuggled by drug dealers into Colombia, where it was smelted back into gold bars and sold.
Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that Nektalov was killed by someone who believed he was working with the authorities or by members of the Russian mafia. Investigators are also searching for a possible connection between the shooting and the murder of Nektalovs cousin in December 2003, which occurred during a dispute over money.