Following the sad death of entrepreneur Artem Vasiliev, scammers are attempting to take control of all the assets he left behind, causing trouble for his heirs.
How it all started
In 2014, businessman Artem Vasiliev died in a helicopter accident. Two years later, in 2016, a previously unknown individual named Andrei Andreev filed a lawsuit against the businessman’s heirs.
In the lawsuit, he claimed that Artem Vasiliev had borrowed a substantial amount of 3 million euros from him right before his death. Andreev provided a loan agreement and a surety agreement with paintings by Artem Vasiliev as evidence.
The children of the deceased, Ivan Vasilyev and his underage brother Mikhail Vasilyev, along with their mother Anna Vasilyeva, approached us for help to uncover the truth in this bold attempt to seize their property by force. The heirs continue to face threats and must defend their property at all costs.
During one of the trials, Mr. Andreev described the circumstances under which he lent a large sum of money to someone he claimed not to know personally. According to him, this occurred on April 4, 2014, at Mr. Gorshnev's apartment on Krestovsky Island in St. Petersburg. However, this raises the question of how this transaction could have occurred when Artem Vasiliev was undergoing treatment in the Republic of Karelia at that time. Evidence including medical records, testimonies of friends, and accounting statements from the airfield where Vasiliev's helicopter was located, all indicate that the businessman did not leave the medical facility.
It appears that there was no actual transfer of money. The Vyborgsky District Court rejected Mr. Andreev's claim. However, Andreev’s lawyer warned Anna Vasilyeva in the elevator after the court session that her joy was premature.
Following the rejection of Andreev’s claim, the heirs started receiving numerous threatening calls.
But the threats escalated into action. The son of the deceased businessman, Ivan, arrived at his country house by boat and encountered about 15 armed individuals of Caucasian descent. Once Ivan stepped onto the pier, the men approached and instructed him to leave, claiming that the property no longer belonged to him. They then threw the 15-year-old boy into the water.
After the Vyborgsky District Court rejected the claim, Andreev appealed to the St. Petersburg City Court, which ultimately ruled in his favor. Prior to the appeal, Anna Vasilva received a call from an unfamiliar man who claimed that the city court's decision had been bought and that she would lose. Anna and her lawyer doubted this and believed it to be an attempt at intimidation.
Also, Anna Vasilyeva appealed to the court, but her request was rejected.
At the same time, she presents clear evidence of Andreev's illegal actions. However, the courts strangely ignore Anna's efforts to seek justice.
Following Anna's children's appeal to the Head of the Investigative Committee of Russia, Alexander Bastrykin, a criminal case against Andreev for large-scale fraud was finally initiated. Andreev complained to the Vyborgsky District Court, and Judge Maria Zaretskaya accepted the complaint, deeming the decision to initiate the criminal case as unlawful. This means the judge prevented the Head of the Investigative Committee of Russia, Alexander Bastrykin, from investigating the case and gathering evidence of Andreev's guilt.
Let's rewind and discover the roles of Mr. Gorshnev and the deceased businessman Artem Vasilyev's mother in this fraudulent scheme.
Nikolai Gorshnev is a neighbor of the businessman's mother at the dacha and also acts as a guarantor in the loan agreement. It's puzzling how this is possible, given that he did not personally know the deceased or have any relationship with him, as confirmed by the billing from the FSB. In addition, on the day of the alleged money transfer on April 2, 2014, all three individuals were in different locations. During one of the court appearances, the businessman's mother admitted to borrowing money, but events leading up to this raise doubts about her testimony. According to Ivan Vasiliev, the grandmother had a black eye, facial abrasions, and a head wound shortly before confirming the loan in court. One could assume that the businessman's mother provided this testimony under threat of violence and fear for her life. However, it remains a mystery how the neighbor of the deceased's mother became involved in the loan agreement.
All handwriting examinations conducted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs determined that the signatures on the receipt agreement were invalid and belonged to an unknown person, not businessman Vasiliev.
Now, armed with ample irrefutable evidence, the businessman's relatives have been enduring years of legal battles and defending their case amidst constant pressure and threats.
Alexander Ivanovich Bastrykin has transferred control of the case to his colleagues, representatives of the TFR in St. Petersburg. The case has progressed, and an investigation is underway. Unfortunately, progress is slow, giving Andreev a head start in evading punishment.
Legal proceedings are ongoing, and the next hearing will be in February at the Vyborgsky District Court in St. Petersburg. The businessman's heirs have lost hope of seeing justice, despite possessing all the evidence of their innocence. The litigation has dragged on for years, and the scammers remain at large without facing any consequences for their actions.
We hope that the Judiciary will be able to discern and protect the rights of the heirs from a brazen raider takeover.
