|
| Basic Information | |
|---|---|
Gender
|
Male |
Age
|
45 |
Birthplace
|
Bern, Switzerland |
Nationality
|
Swiss |
Height
|
6'1" |
Eye Color
|
Brown |
Hair Color
|
Black |
| Personal Status | |
Status
|
Dead |
Date of Death
|
2004 |
Killed by
|
criminals |
Death
|
Shot |
| Organization(s) | |
Affiliation(s)
|
Meta Global Funds United Nations Olympic Council NATO |
| Misc. Information | |
Appears in
|
Syphon Filter 2 (indirectly mentioned) |
"I am always ready."
-Niculescu before criminals kill him
Mihai Niculescu is the true mastermind and commander of the entire Syphon Filter conspiracy.
Although he did not physically appear, he was a major antagonist in Syphon Filter 3 and Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain. It was not until the latter that he was seen.
Background
Raised in the wealthy Niculescu Family which is among the most powerful European associations, Mihai ascended to CEO of Niculescu Funds, Ltd. and grew in power over the course of his life until becoming the third richest man in the world. His financial influence led to positions on numerous international boards including UN, NATO, and Olympic Councils. As he hid from the public, his desire to manipulate global affairs developed into connections with criminal forces and the plot to create the Syphon Filter virus.
Niculescu established the shadow corporation Meta Global Funds to direct all events in the operation. He orchestrated the takeover of several companies to participate in it, such as Pugari Mining in South Africa and Murakawa Industries from Japan. While other conspirators served his second-in-command and right-hand man Vincent Hadden, Niculescu preferred to purposefully keep his distance; he directed events through Mara Aramov, the two having met at an unspecified time years ago.
Niculescu ordered Mara to deal with the traitorous Mikhas Ivankov to recover the Omega Strain. Niculescu began a steady shutdown of his companies, including Murakawa, in order to deter authorities. Despite being warned by Alex Birchim to ignore Niculescu, Gabe Logan engineered a storming of Meta Global Headquarters. The IPCA operation into Niculescu Funds returned evidence of his bank financing criminal enterprises such as the Anarchiste Libertaire Armee (ALA) but was otherwise fruitless. However, an Agency virus disrupted the entire computer network which erased all accounts held with the company after sending the data to the Agency system.
Niculescu permitted Ivankov to continue with an attack on Moscow in hopes of selling a viral antidote and profiting. He ignored Aramov's warnings that Ivankov acquired a nuclear weapon for the impending strike. The disagreement between them caused Niculescu to betray her. Mihai arranged for Aramov to be killed, but Gabe Logan intervened and Aramov in turn helped the Agency stop Ivankov.
Despite a lack of proof against Niculescu, authorities would not need to investigate since the criminals who lost money from his bank murdered him in his Zurich office as confirmed by local news reports and Elsa Weissenger.
Personality and traits
Calm, collected and lucid, Niculescu was "always ready", even before mercenaries killed him for the deletion of his clients' files from the Meta Global computer network. He seemed to fit the profile of a genius and a sociopath. This was evident when he "didn't give a damn about Moscow" and his cunning was seen in his drugging of Mara Aramov to stop her from warning Russia. Had Gabe Logan not stormed his estate, Aramov would have been killed.
Niculescu was claimed by Gabe to be the head of one of the most prestigious banks in Zurich, making him powerful and influential. He was number 3 on the top 10 list of the world's wealthiest men and sat on dozens of International Committees.
Furthermore, Teresa wrote that Niculescu was on every important financial board from the EU Finance committee to the NATO financial group.