Ivan Grokolov

"In my country we had a saying - The more we sweat in training, the less we bleed on the streets."

Personal Life
In his youth Ivan was trained in several different fighting styles – including sambo, freestyle wrestling, judo and kickboxing - as part of the Spetznaz Youth Program. Prior to coming to America, Ivan was quite successful in his chosen disciplines. He is a former U.S. Open Heavyweight Sambo Champion and U.S. Kickboxing Association International Grappling Champion, as well as a former member of the Russian national football team.

Since joining the CBI, Ivan doesnt have too many hobbies, preferring to spend his spare time practicing and honing his new craft. His partner set him up on a blind date to help his social life (Episode One), but this backfired when the woman he set him up with turned out to be a Syndicate assassin, inadvertently making Ivan the chief suspect in a murder investigation until the assassin was uncovered and killed in a rooftop shootout.

Professional Life
Ivan joined the CBI after his father was killed by the Russian Mafia for refusing an extortion attempt on his shop. After completing his two years of patrol duty with a CBI record of 749 arrests, Ivan transferred by request to the Organised Crime Division, partnering up with John Clark.

Ivan then spearheaded the effort on systematically dismantling the Russian Mafia. Thanks to his investigations, judges handed out over 15,000 years of jail time to Russian mafia gang members, effectively destroying and removing the previously largest gang in Chicago from its streets. However where there is chaos, there is opportunity and this created a power vaccum for corrupt councilmen, big business and the Italian Mafia, among others to take over many of the activities left behind.