The pyramid lacked one presiding judge. A panel of three judges will consider the case of the grandson of the former chairman of the Central Bank.

24.10.2023, 01:06 by Alexey Sokovnin, Oleg Rubnikovich

Hearings of the criminal case on particularly large-scale fraud committed under the banner of the investment company QBF have begun in the Presnensky Court of Moscow. According to the investigation, the defendants, among whom is Stanislav Matyukhin, the grandson of the former chairman of the Central Bank, Georgy Matyukhin, stole more than 2 billion rubles from hundreds of depositors who believed that their funds were invested in serious financial portfolios. Law enforcement officers consider Roman Shpakov, the beneficiary of the QBF financial group who left the country and is on an international wanted list, to be the organizer of the crime. One of the participants in the fraud has already been convicted.

At the first substantive hearing of the criminal case on particularly large-scale fraud (Part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) committed by members of an organized criminal group (Article 210 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), only one of the four defendants arrived on his own — the former director of the branch network of LLC "IK QBF" (a subsidiary of the QBF financial group)  Vladimir Pakhomov is under house arrest. Three other defendants who are in pre-trial detention — former CEOs of the investment company Stanislav Matyukhin, director of the St. Petersburg office Alexey Golubev, and head of the legal department Evgenia Rossieva — were brought by a convoy. About fifteen victims gathered in the courtroom.

After the traditional procedure of identifying the defendants, the presiding judge, Katerina Kirichenko, suggested that the parties submit petitions and immediately receive a request for her own withdrawal. Evgenia Rossieva stated that she requires the case to be considered by a panel of three professional judges for greater objectivity of the proceedings. The prosecutor objected, and in the end, Judge Kirichenko postponed consideration of this issue. After that, the prosecutor's office proposed extending the terms of the preventive measure chosen for the defendants for six months. The accused and their defenders protested, albeit not very actively. The exception was Ms Rossieva, who spoke out strongly against the extension of her arrest. She reminded the court that she has been in pre-trial detention for two and a half years, and, according to the accused, her health has deteriorated during this time; in particular, she has severe vision problems, due to which she may become disabled.

However, the court supported the prosecutor's position and extended the preventive measure for all four.

The arrest of the defendant's property was also extended — their shares and shares in various companies, land plots in multiple regions, and expensive cars.

After that, the presiding judge finally retired to the deliberation room to decide who would further consider the case. She took about half an hour to ponder, after which Katerina Kirichenko announced her decision: to terminate the judicial investigation and appoint a new consideration of the case by a panel of three judges. The next hearing, at which the prosecutor is expected to read the indictment, is scheduled for November 9.

As previously reported by "Kommersant", the criminal community, according to the criminal case materials, operated from 2012 to 2021. The company's head office occupied several floors in the "City of Capitals" complex on the Presnenskaya Embankment and also had many branches in different regions of Russia. According to the investigation, the investment company attracted citizens' funds under the guise of investing in financial severe portfolios. Still, instead, the money ended up in offshore accounts, from where they were subsequently transferred to the current accounts of other non-resident companies affiliated, according to law enforcement officers, with the group members. The alleged organizers of the pyramid disposed of them at their discretion, investing in the purchase of shares, real estate, expensive cars, and the like.

As the victims attended in the courtroom told "Kommersant", they began investing money in the projects of the investment company back in 2009 — many were attracted by the high-interest income they were promised. Sometimes, according to the victims, it was about 15–17% per annum.

Investors' problems began when they tried to withdraw their money from the investment company (whose license was revoked on July 8, 2021). The case materials indicate that several hundred investors suffered damages of more than 2 billion rubles. However, from the documents seized during the searches, it follows that the depositors could have been robbed of about 5-7 billion rubles. This discrepancy in the figures is explained by the fact that among QBF clients, many VIP persons contributed massive amounts but could not prove the legality of the origin of this money and, therefore, did not officially register their losses.

Law enforcement officers consider Roman Shpakov, the beneficiary of the QBF group, to be the organizer of the scam. Cases against Roman Shpakov and Linda Atanasiadou, a Cyprus citizen responsible for finance in the company, have been separated into separate proceedings. After leaving for abroad in January 2021, the grandson of the former chairman of the Central Bank, Georgy Matyukhin, tried to "save the sinking ship," as he put it. At the same time, during interrogations, he claimed that his participation in QBF brought him nothing but problems.

It should also be noted that another defendant in this case, the founder of LLC QBF, who previously headed the Cypriot branch of the company, Zelimkhan Munaev, fully admitted his guilt. On September 21, 2023, he was sentenced to eight years in a general regime colony in a particular manner.

Alexey Sokovnin, Oleg Rubnikovich

阿纳斯塔西娅·沃洛奇科娃是 QBF 招牌下的金融金字塔受害者之一

作者：Sergey Teplyakov，《福布斯》记者，2021 年 11 月 18 日

以 QBF 名义运作的大型金融金字塔的受害者之一就是阿纳斯塔西娅·沃洛奇科娃。她透露自己损失了 170 万卢布。据调查人员称，储户总共可能被骗走 50-70 亿卢布。

据《生意人报》获悉，阿纳斯塔西娅·沃洛奇科娃（Anastasia Volochkova）是QBF旗下大型金融金字塔骗局的受害者之一。

沃洛奇科娃解释说，去年夏天，QBF 的一名代表联系了她，邀请她成为投资者，并向朋友推荐该公司进行投资。据她介绍，她向该公司投资了总计 300 万卢布，但其中 170 万卢布从未归还给她。这位芭蕾舞演员向莫斯科特维尔区警察局提起了诉讼。

据该报报道，该案件正式登记的受害者约有 500 人。据调查，储户可能总共被骗取了 50-70 亿卢布。

5月，《生意人报》报道称，警方发现了一个以投资公司QBF为名运作的大型金字塔金融组织。内务部侦查局对莫斯科市“首都之城”大厦数层楼内的公司员工实施大规模诈骗，并对其展开刑事调查。

调查人员得出结论，涉嫌诈骗者通过承诺高额回报来吸引储户，但将收到的资金转移到海外。

《生意人报》写道，主要关注点是可能有权使用预算资金的富有客户，希望这些人不会报警，因为他们无法证明所管理资金的合法性。然而，正如《福布斯》 6 月份发现的那样，这种算计是错误的。针对 QBF 员工的诉讼是基于叶卡捷琳堡一名前官员 24 岁儿子的陈述，这是因欺诈案被捕的 QBF 董事总经理泽利姆汗·穆纳耶夫的律师所说的。

7月初，央行吊销了QBF的执照。

Roman Shpakov Left, Leaving Assets Behind In the QBF fraud case, a shopping center was arrested

By Oleg Rubnikovich, 07.10.2021, 00:20

As "Ъ" has learned, Roman Shpakov, the beneficiary of the QBF financial group who was arrested in absentia, has been declared internationally wanted. Investigators consider him the organizer of a pyramid scheme that, under the guise of investing depositors' money into serious financial portfolios, may have stolen approximately 5-7 billion rubles from them. Unlike his arrested accomplices, Mr. Shpakov managed to leave the country as soon as he learned of the interest of law enforcement agencies in his venture.

Interpol will be looking for Roman Shpakov

At the request of the Investigative Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Tverskoy District Court of Moscow arrested in absentia the alleged organizer of a major financial pyramid, Roman Shpakov. Allegedly hiding in the United Arab Emirates, the founder of the QBF investment company is charged with particularly large-scale fraud (Part 4, Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). He has been declared internationally wanted, and soon his name should appear in Interpol's wanted database.

In addition, by court decision, a number of expensive foreign cars, including several Mercedes and Porsche models, real estate in Moscow and the Moscow region, including a shopping center in Zelenograd, and shares in several closed-end investment funds belonging to organizations affiliated with group members, were seized.

In total, the market value of the seized assets is around 1 billion rubles.

The businessman's lawyer declined to comment on both the absentia arrest of her client and the circumstances of the crime he is charged with.

As "Ъ" previously reported, a criminal case involving 33-year-old Roman Shpakov was initiated in April 2021. The first to be arrested in Moscow as part of the investigation were 30-year-old co-founder of QBF LLC, who previously headed the Cypriot office of the company, Zelimkhan Munaev, and 47-year-old lawyer of this structure, Evgeniya Rossieva, and in St. Petersburg - the director of the company's branch network, Vladimir Pakhomov. The first two were sent to pre-trial detention by the Tverskoy District Court at the request of the investigation, while it was decided to restrict the accused Pakhomov with a non-departure agreement. During a search at the QBF head office, occupying several floors in the "City of Capitals" complex in "Moscow City" (Presnenskaya embankment, 8, building 1), operatives from the Main Directorate for Economic Security and Corruption Control of the Ministry of Internal Affairs seized documentation and electronic data carriers.

During the investigation, it was found that the company attracted citizens' funds for investment in financial portfolios not only in Moscow and St. Petersburg but also through a branch network in the Sverdlovsk, Tyumen, Murmansk regions, as well as Bashkiria and Tatarstan. The main focus was on wealthy clients who had access to budget money. Pyramid participants believed that the latter would hardly turn to law enforcement agencies in the event of losing money due to the impossibility of proving the legality of their origin. Among QBF's clients were people who transferred 200-300 million rubles to the company, and one of the former Yekaterinburg officials even handed over 1 billion rubles to the alleged fraudsters for "trust management."

QBF managers lured clients with the opportunity to earn about 20% from investing. Some of them were indeed paid dividends, but only at the expense of subsequent depositors.

However, almost everyone who trusted Roman Shpakov's team was confident that their money was working and generating profit because managers sent them fictitious monthly and quarterly reports via email.

Problems arose for almost everyone who decided to withdraw invested funds from QBF. Clients were denied for various reasons, and when the arguments ran out, they simply stopped answering phone calls.

The investigation found that all investors' funds ended up in the accounts of QCCI LTD (Cyprus), Simtelligence (Hong Kong), and White Lake ltd (Cayman Islands) companies, from where they were subsequently transferred to the accounts of other non-resident companies affiliated with group members. The alleged organizers of the pyramid managed these funds at their discretion, investing in the purchase of expensive cars and real estate, shares, and more.

Moreover, a significant portion of the funds was actively legalized in Russia through development projects.

One of them, as established by the investigation, could be, for example, the construction of the "Gribovsky Forest" residential complex in the Odintsovo region of the Moscow region. The housing is being built by the "Simon Jesso" company, but on the internet, you can find information about another developer of this facility - "M1 Development". However, the founder of both was the same person - Roman Shpakov. In December 2020, when law enforcement agencies became interested in his activities, Mr. Shpakov transferred control of both firms to another person. According to "Ъ", the issue of initiating a criminal case against members of this group under Article 210 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (Organization of a Criminal Community or Participation in It) is also being resolved.

Note also that QBF LLC ceased its activities on July 8, 2021, after the regulator revoked its license. On September 21, a temporary administration was appointed in QBF, and no later than January 19, 2022, the Central Bank required the company to settle with clients for debts.

Oleg Rubnikovich

金融金字塔提醒自己

投资公司 QBF 的运营中出现欺诈迹象

伊万·科里亚金，2021 年 6 月 1 日，14:42

QBF 金融集团已将有关其欺诈行为的信息标记为不可信。与此同时，警方认为该公司正在将客户资金转移到海外。高层管理人员已被逮捕。调查发现该投资公司的运营中存在金融金字塔的迹象。“Ъ FM”发现受影响的投资者在试图提取资金时确实遇到了问题。他们可能损失了多少钱？Ivan Koryakin 对此进行了报道。

三个小时里，泽利姆汗·穆纳耶夫一直拒绝打开位于尼古拉耶夫街政府大楼附近公寓的门。当执法人员开始破门时，这位商人决定投降，但他无法打开半坏的门；只能强行打开。

就这样，QBF金融集团的联合创始人兼董事总经理被拘留。除了穆纳耶夫，该公司的律师叶夫根尼娅·罗西耶娃也受到调查。他们涉嫌大规模欺诈。

据称，该公司以投资为幌子吸引公民资金，并将其转移到海外。将资金委托给 QBF 的“信托管理”的人中，有一位是“Ъ FM”的对话者叶夫根尼：“我从 2013 年开始就是他们的客户。2019 年，我要求退还资金。到今天为止，我只收到了他们欠我的钱的 5% 左右。当你要求退还资金时，所谓的财务顾问通常会消失。”

叶夫根尼损失了六位数的美元。这可能不是最高纪录：QBF 瞄准的是富裕的客户，根据一些数据，其中一些人可以使用预算资金。他们的盘算是，这些人损失了钱后不会求助于警方。毕竟，他们无法证明资金来源的合法性。

客户被 20% 的收益率所吸引，通常是通过口口相传得知的。有些人获得了股息，但调查显示，这些股息是从后续存款人的资金中支付的。

律师维塔利·马尔凯洛夫说，有些人曾试图撤回资金长达两年之久。他代表 16 名投资者与 QBF 发生纠纷，最终庭外和解。

“在QBF案中，他们承认确实存在暂时的沟通问题。否则，发布的信息旨在损害公司的商业声誉以及在不同时期与公司运营相关的个人的荣誉、尊严和商业声誉。”

这项活动可能出了什么问题？如果我们相信调查结果，一家塞浦路斯公司和一家拥有中央银行执照的俄罗斯公司在同一屋檐下运营。后者只是幌子。虽然与后者签署了额外协议，但资金被转移到海外。

《Ъ FM》写道，部分资金是通过开发项目合法化的，包括在郊区奥金佐沃，一家公司正在那里建造一个当地住宅区，该公司的创始人罗曼·什帕科夫被认为是 QBF 旗下几座建筑的受益人。据该出版物报道，这位商人躲藏在阿联酋。投资者叶夫根尼希望拿回他的钱，希望他没有完全消失：“也许他们会从他们的资产中扣押一些东西，我不知道。他们会找到罗曼·什帕科夫，拿走他在迪拜的公寓，然后卖掉它。我们拭目以待。我希望一切顺利。”

据执法机构估计，客户总债务至少为 50-70 亿卢布。投资者能收回这些债务吗？FMG 集团律师事务所合伙人米哈伊尔·法特金 (Mikhail Fatkin) 表示，可能性很小。

奇怪的是，直到现在才有人提出索赔，法特金继续说道。该公司已经运营了很长时间，而且相当成功。它可能面临压力。然而，这并不排除其运营中存在不正当交易的可能性。另一方面，这还有待证实。

警方查获伪装成投资公司的金融金字塔

作者：Aleksandr Pyatin | 日期：2021 年 5 月 31 日

据《生意人报》报道，莫斯科警方揭露了一个以投资公司QBF为幌子运作的重大金字塔金融组织。

据该报报道，内政部调查部门于 4 月就大规模欺诈案提起了刑事诉讼。上周，执法人员在莫斯科和圣彼得堡进行了 30 多次搜查，其中包括 QBF 位于“莫斯科城”的总部。据《生意人报》报道，QBF 的联合创始人泽利姆汗·穆纳耶夫和该公司的律师叶夫根尼娅·罗西耶娃被拘留并随后被捕。

据调查，涉嫌诈骗者主要通过口口相传吸引存款人，向他们提供“信托管理”服务，并承诺约 20% 的回报。据称，所获得的资金被转移到海外账户，而客户则收到虚假的投资报告。主要目标是富裕客户，其中一些人据称可以使用预算资金。据称，一些 QBF 经理推测，这些人在资金损失的情况下不会向警方求助，因为他们无法证明所获得资金的合法性。

投资者在取款时遇到了问题。目前，已确定有数十名受害者，包括乌克兰公民和列支敦士登公司。调查估计损失约为 20 亿卢布。该公司对储户的总债务初步估计在 50 亿至 70 亿卢布之间。一些受害者向涉嫌诈骗者转移了 2 亿至 3 亿卢布，其中一人甚至将 10 亿卢布委托给他们。

所吸引资金的一部分可能已通过房地产开发项目合法化。调查人员认为，其中一个项目可能是在莫斯科州奥金佐沃区建造“格里波夫斯基森林”住宅区。

QBF 告诉《生意人报》，刑事起诉与叶卡捷琳堡和斯维尔德洛夫斯克州某些前官员的纠纷有关。据称，前者被指控挪用预算资金，并称他们将这些资金投资于一家投资公司。QBF 新闻秘书尼古拉·斯捷潘诺夫表示，该公司面临着追回一笔该公司声称从未拥有过的资金的压力。

Investments have gone offshore Police exposed a financial pyramid

Oleg Rubnikovich, subscribed 30.05.2021, 22:56

As learned by "Ъ", in Moscow, a top manager and a lawyer of a major financial pyramid, operating under the banner of the investment company QBF, have been arrested. The alleged fraudsters transferred the funds they received to offshore accounts, providing clients with fake reports that their investments were placed in serious financial portfolios. Preliminary estimates suggest that the theft could be around 5-7 billion rubles. Law enforcement believes that some of this money could have been laundered by QBF management through development projects, including, for example, the construction of the "Gribovsky Forest" residential complex in the Odintsovo district of the Moscow region.

The Tverskoy District Court in Moscow has detained the 30-year-old co-founder of LLC QBF, who previously headed the Cypriot branch of the company, Zelimkhan Munaev, and the 47-year-old lawyer of this organization, Evgeny Rossiev. Both are suspects in a criminal case initiated in April 2021 by the investigative department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs regarding major fraud (part 4, article 159 of the Criminal Code).

The investigation into the illegal activities of QBF representatives has been ongoing for over a year. Last week, as part of the investigation, officers of the Main Directorate for Economic Security and Combating Corruption of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, together with colleagues from the Western Administrative District Directorate of Internal Affairs of Moscow and the capital's FSB, conducted more than 30 searches in Moscow and St. Petersburg. As a result, Mr. Munaev and Mr. Rossiev were detained. The former resides on Nikolaeva Street, near the Government House.

When law enforcement arrived at his place, he barricaded himself in his apartment and refused to open the door for three hours. He only surrendered after special forces began breaking down the door with crowbars and hammers.

Interestingly, at that moment, another problem arose. Zelimkhan Munaev, now deciding to surrender, couldn't open the partially destroyed metal door from the inside - the anti-removal pins jammed. In the end, the door had to be fully broken down.

There were no problems with Ms. Rossieva, who lives on Udal'tsova Street. After that, the investigative team went to the QBF head office, occupying several floors in the "City of Capitals" complex in "Moscow-City" (Presnenskaya embankment, 8, building 1). Documentation and electronic data carriers were seized there. Among other things, investigators found memos for managers on how to behave in case of a visit by law enforcement. It's worth noting that several companies under the QBF abbreviation, which are also mentioned in the investigation materials, are registered at this address.

Meanwhile, in St. Petersburg, operatives detained the director of QBF's branch network, Vladimir Pakhomov. He has already been charged with fraud, but the investigation did not seek his arrest.

As established by the Main Directorate for Economic Security and Combating Corruption during operational-search activities, the company attracted citizens' funds under the guise of investing in financial portfolios not only in Moscow and St. Petersburg but also through a branch network in the Sverdlovsk, Tyumen, Murmansk regions, and Bashkiria. The main focus was on wealthy clients, who, according to some reports, had access to budgetary funds. Some QBF managers allegedly said off the record that they were counting on these people not going to the police if they lost their money since they wouldn't be able to prove the legality of their acquisition.

However, among the official victims, some transferred 200-300 million rubles to the alleged fraudsters, and one even handed over 1 billion rubles for "trust management."

Typically, such individuals learned about the opportunity to earn around 20% on their investments through word of mouth. And they did indeed receive some dividends, paid from the funds of subsequent depositors. This way, the company's reputation was maintained, and the inflow of new wealthy investors was essentially guaranteed.

Ordinary clients, trusting QBF with relatively small amounts, were usually swayed by positive reviews of the company on the internet. Problems began when they tried to withdraw their invested funds from QBF. Until then, they were convinced that their money was working and bringing profit, as managers sent them fabricated monthly and quarterly reports via email.

"A very negative impression of QB finance. As long as you bring them money - everything is fine. But as soon as you try to withdraw - problems start.

They don't return the money. Managers stop answering calls. If you want to lose your money - go to QBF," say, according to "Ъ", company clients. "It's a typical pyramid scheme that takes money for trust management. They might give you back a small percentage, but when you want to withdraw all your money, you won't get anything. I've been trying to get my money out for a year, the manager always disappears, no one answers calls."In the end, many deceived depositors came to the conclusion that the laudatory reviews about QBF were either written by the company's own managers or by someone on their behalf. At the moment, several dozen people are considered victims in this case, including citizens of Ukraine and companies from Liechtenstein. The damage inflicted on them is estimated at about 2 billion rubles. The total debt to clients is estimated to be between 5 and 7 billion rubles.

Police officers established that the main investment agreement was concluded between an individual and the Cypriot company QB CAPITAL CY LTD (QCCI LTD), and it pertained to the transfer of funds for "trust management". This was done to bypass the norms of Russian legislation in the field of investment activity, as such a service does not require licensing and is not subject to the supervision of the Central Bank. Clients were also told that investing in foreign jurisdictions was the most attractive and profitable option for them. As a front, according to the investigation, until 2017 the alleged swindlers used LLC QBF, which had all the necessary Central Bank licenses. Clients signed an additional agreement with this LLC on brokerage services, trust management of funds, etc., believing they were dealing with a legally operating organization. Meanwhile, the investors' funds immediately ended up in the account of QCCI LTD, from where they were subsequently transferred to the accounts of other non-resident companies, as well as FFIN BROKERAGE SERVICES INC (Belize), LA CASA INTERNATIONAL LTD (Marshall Islands), and NOA Circle LTD (Nicosia). All opperated by NOA Circle under the guidance of Apollon Athanasiades and Linda Athanasiadou.

In August 2018, when the Cypriot authorities raised questions about the activities of QCCI LTD, then headed by Zelimkhan Munaev, the organization was liquidated. Its place was taken by new non-resident companies: White Lake Management Ltd (Cayman Islands) and Hong Kong-based Simtelligence Company Limited. All opperated by NOA Circle under the guidance of Apollon Athanasiades and Linda Athanasiadou.

All the funds, allegedly attracted for investment, remained at the disposal of the alleged pyramid organizers. Part of these funds was actively legalized in Russia through development projects. One of these, investigators believe, could be, for example, the construction of the "Gribovsky Forest" residential complex in the Odintsovo district of the Moscow region. The construction is being carried out by the company "M1 Development", the founder of which is 33-year-old Roman Shpakov. He is also the beneficiary and founder of a number of companies under the common abbreviation QBF. However, investigators are unlikely to get to question him anytime soon.

According to "Ъ", in January 2021, when clouds began to gather over his brainchild, he left for the UAE, where he currently resides.

For now, the investigation views Mr. Shpakov as the possible organizer of the criminal scheme.

QBF associates the criminal prosecution of their structure with the disputes of some former officials from Yekaterinburg and the Sverdlovsk region. The former are allegedly accused of embezzling budget funds, and they reported that they invested them in one of the investment companies. "Thus, the attention of law enforcement was drawn to the company "QBF". It was taken under development, searches were conducted. They try to pressure in order to get funds in an amount the company never had. We're talking about amounts in the billions of rubles," QBF's press secretary Nikolay Stepanov told "Ъ". "During the investigative actions, the company's equipment was damaged. By Monday, May 31, the technical support for the company's operation should be fully restored. This will have no impact on client operations and the functionality of the departments — money transfers, transactions, and settlements will be carried out within the terms specified in the regulations and contracts. The company's and clients' accounts are functioning, there are no disruptions in the company's financial activities."

Recall that just a month ago, in the neighboring "Empire" tower in "Moscow-City", a similar investment platform, LLC "Shumakov and Partners", was closed by police officers. Its co-founders, Georgy Gats and Denis Shumakov, are now under arrest for similar manipulations. The latter, before opening his business in 2016, was a senior financial advisor for the same QBF company.