Unfortunately, the corrupt Petrov had formed a business relationship with the notorious international criminal Stefano DiMera, and provided him with the ultimate "soldier" in John (although never overtly stated, it stands to reason that Petrov may have been introduced to Stefano via the latter's common-law marriage to Philomena Alamain's sister Daphne). Although unclear whether this was a betrayal of the Phantom Alliance on Petrov's part, or part of a Yo Ling-DiMera arrangement, Petrov was separated from the Alliance for a period and worked full-time for Stefano. Petrov taught Stefano how to "program" John using the Alliance's brainwashing methods, creating DiMera's long-sought-after "super-soldier".