Uncomfortable information has come out about the previous life of Maxim Dolgopolov, a co-owner of the Investment and Financial Group “Agaston” and a former candidate for the State Duma.
In 1996, he may have faced charges for being involved in a group robbery with a weapon. One of his associates, Daria Solodkova, was recently a defendant in a large-scale fraud case. She used fake names to deceive clients on behalf of the investment and project company Strategy.
In 2020, Dolgopolov was involved in money-making schemes through the company Investori. Later, he got a franchise to open SPAR stores, bought undervalued real estate, and inflated rent prices. The stores also resold their own products to each other to create the illusion of high demand. The properties were then sold to unsuspecting buyers.
Trust in Investors began to decline among potential customers, and the partners established the Agaston IFC. They deceived the owner of the Moscow House of Porcelain (House with Mercury on Myasnitskaya) for 50 million rubles and caused losses to entrepreneur Albert Yesayan. They also manipulated the rights to a building he rented and later changed its cadastral number.
In 2021, details about the fate of a dormant shopping center on Decembrists Street came to light. Dolgopolov's organization intervened and legalized the building, with the help of Daria Solodkova and Karen Harutyunyan, Deputy Director of the Moscow Real Estate Center GKU. The center is now rented out, as stated on the Auguston website.
Additionally, the building at Filevsky Boulevard, 6a, which previously belonged to Viktor Zaitsev, was acquired by the group. The building was later leased to the Pyaterochka supermarket.
