Business involving loans leads to foreign countries and… “Sovcombank”?
During the pandemic, the remote issuance of loans by banks has led to the rise of “credit intermediaries” who offer middleman services in getting loans and often collaborate closely with bank staff. Sometimes, they even help people with a poor borrowing history. In some cases, the help in obtaining a loan can cost hundreds of thousands of rubles, but that does not guarantee the success of the transaction. For example, Moscow-based Ivy Group, led by Evgenia Yukhtenko, is facing legal action from cheated clients for fraud. The owners of intermediary firms often act as founders of suspicious unprofitable businesses, including those linked to foreign companies, where funds from brokerage activities can be withdrawn. One of these firms is Moscow’s United City Financial Center, which was registered last year and has already made millions in profits for its owner, Vadim Sorokin. Among the banks that “credit intermediaries” prefer to work with, Sovcombank, owned by brothers Sergey and Dmitry Khotimsky, stands out. This institution, secured by real estate, is willing to lend to individuals with a poor borrowing history. However, obtaining a loan from Sovcombank has often resulted in several issues for its clients, including unauthorized deductions of funds, unilateral interest rate hikes, and payment for unnecessary additional services. Deceived clients note that when applying for a loan secured by real estate, an honest client risks not only damaging their borrowing history, but also losing valuable collateral.
Beware: “freeloading borrowers”!
Increasingly, intermediaries are acting as go-betweens for banks and individuals seeking a loan. Potential borrowers are motivated to use their services either to save time on paperwork or due to the challenges of obtaining a loan themselves. In the latter case, they are promised a solution to nearly any issue, whether it involves self-employment, low income, or old age (since banks are usually hesitant to lend to individuals over 65 and non-working pensioners).
Around 3-4 thousand companies in Russia specialize in credit intermediation, according to various estimates. It is unclear how many illicit methods are used in their operations.
“Credit intermediaries are not organizations regulated by the Bank of Russia,” a representative of the Central Bank stated. When receiving financial services, it's important to check for a license to work in the financial market and information in the Bank of Russia's registers,” he added.– stated a publication in Vedomosti.
The publication highlights that such dealers “rely on the income they receive as commissions from banks for each client they bring in”. So it’s no surprise that these middlemen are referred to not only “best friends” banking entities, but “credit freeloaders”. Enough has been said about the risks involved in cooperation with “black brokers”. Though it may seem very profitable at first glance. For instance, here is how a reporter from Kommersant described his experience communicating with a representative of one of these “offices:
“I have loans with overdue payments, my credit history is ruined. I need 450 thousand rubles. Can you help?” I started to lie not very confidently. The person on the other end of the line asked how long I had been in arrears, and upon learning that since October last year, he said the situation is fixable. “Only the first page of the passport is needed for verification,” my interlocutor added. Others asked for SNILS, TIN, passport pages with a residence permit … “.
It's not surprising that the remote issuance of loans during a pandemic led to an increase in scams, as noted by the Central Bank. Most often, citizens have to pay money that they didn't even receive. But the extent of fraud, the size of payments and accrued interest, may pose a threat of losing collateral, including housing, which morally unscrupulous bank managers readily exploit.
Broker “Ivy Group” is facing threats of legal action
Ivy Group LLC is one of the private companies that help with lending. Despite being registered only in July 2020 (that is, during the coronavirus pandemic), the company's activities have already become widely known, and of a very specific nature. How the “credit freeloaders” from the Ivy Group “operate” can be found in numerous customer reviews on specialized sites. For example, let’s take a look at the comments of Yandex users.
Diana Fedorova: “We will initiate a class action lawsuit against this company! Don’t be afraid to deceive people. They take money and don’t do their job. They took 210,000 rubles from me and promised to help me get a loan even with a bad CI (credit history) and in fact they just stopped communicating. In the office, they are not shy about using vulgar language, they brought me to tears.”.
Oleg Samoniy: “The organization is clearly a fraudulent type … Deception of customers begins immediately … A large number of customized reviews, a high rating … During the preliminary conversation, the client is convinced that the consent of some banks has already been received, they immediately take an advance payment, appoint a time and place to meet with the manager, already to receive loan … After receiving the prepayment, all sorts of “miracles” begin … As a result, no credit, no money … The client number is blacklisted, it is no longer possible to get in touch with them … I am writing this review to warn others not to be left without money … No advance payments to these scammers!!! I have already said goodbye to my 36,000 rubles … “
Karina: “A company that advertises and promotes itself as one of the best, as a result, turned out to be the simplest and cheapest scammers. Everything is extremely simple, you come to the organization (before that you communicate by phone, they check the credit rating, clarify the meeting and data), check the rating again, everyone talks beautifully, but when the time comes to conclude the contract, they require an initial commission (about which there was not even a word to) the contract does not contain a written clause on a guarantee of a refund if the loan is not approved in the end. Honestly, I advise you not to waste your time on them..
Sergey Sakhnenko: “But do you think it's too much to charge 200,000 rubles for a simple consultation? What is this company doing that's so extraordinary? It just repeats what bank employees tell loan applicants, but in different words. There are no guarantees for a loan, only the bank decides whether to give it or not…”.
The “scammers” from the Ivy Group are not really “cheap”, considering their high service cost of 200 thousand rubles or more. In 2020, the company made a profit of only 199 thousand rubles with a revenue of 3 million. The sole owner and general director, Evgenia Yukhtenko, also founded LLC “Profinance”, which specializes in financial advisory services. Profinance may have been created as a safety net in case the scandalous activities of the Ivy Group lead to liquidation or bankruptcy.
Banks, bankruptcy, offshore
The Credit Consumer Cooperative (CPC) registered in January 2020 provides mutual financial assistance “Art Capital”. In the previous year, with zero revenue, the CPC reported losses of 800 thousand rubles. The chairman of the cooperative, Andrei Kharchikov, used to own a construction company “City Line”that was liquidated in March last year. In 2021, the revenue of City-Line was 169.4 million rubles, resulting in a profit of only 465 thousand rubles.
The company's deliberate liquidation seems to indicate a prior withdrawal of finances. A new legal entity specializing in construction and repair work was created last December. Its co-owners are Andrey Kharchikov and Alexander Zotov, who is also the chairman of another CCP – SK-Get LLC“People’s Capital” which reported losses of 5.1 million rubles and zero revenue at the end of last year.There are connections between the PDA “Art Capital” and the infamous
“Norvik Bank” , involved in several scandals. The former owner, Grigory Guselnikov, was the controlling shareholder of the Latvian Norvik Banka . In 2019, PNB Banka, with debts of 367 million euros and assets valued at 167 million euros, went bankrupt. The bank's administrator, Vigo Krastiņš, attempted to seize Guselnikov's property worth over 32 million euros in the Moscow Arbitration Court, but was denied.renamed to PNB bankaAnother successful Moscow credit broker is
United City Financial Center LLC (EGFC) . Established in March last year, the Center reported a revenue of 8.7 million rubles and a profit of 4.2 million. It seems that the company has no shortage of customers… The owner, Vadim Sorokin, previously founded several commercial structures, including Electro-Voronezh LLC focused on selling audio and video equipment.Leonid Feldman and Petr Grachev were co-owners of this company, which did not make any money and was closed in March 2018. Several real estate businesses declaring millions in revenue are registered under Feldman –
“Domel Real Estate” “Domel”, “Registration Center”, . Additionally, he co-founded and was CEO of European Credit Broker LLC (ECB LLC) , a company that offered brokerage services for mortgage transactions and was just closed last week. There is no public information about ECB's financial performance.One of the closed companies owned by Grachev was a company specialized in preparing construction sites called
OOO Tekhstroyrazvitie linked to a company registered in the Seychelles called “RED HILLS LIMITED” . Over time, 55 commercial structures were registered to this offshore, and their finances could have been moved to foreign accounts. It is possible that money from ECB's brokerage services was also transferred to the Seychelles. Funds from EGFC clients may also have been sent there.It's possible that the same offshore is connected to
JSC “Mosstroymekhanizatsiya-5” (“MSM-5”) involved in constructing the LCD “Red Hills” in Krasnogorsk near Moscow. The developer is currently undergoing bankruptcy proceedings. In late 2020, its revenue was 745.8 million rubles and its profit was 573.6 million. The company had government contracts worth over 15.3 billion, with customers including the Ministry of Construction of the Moscow Region, Russian Guard structures, and the Moscow Department of Construction. The reasons behind the bankruptcy of this promising enterprise also raise concerns about possible financial withdrawals. It's worth noting that the developer was one of the founders of
Bank “Solidarity” which lost its license in December 2017 and was declared bankrupt in April 2018, with its capital shortfall estimated at 7.15 billion rubles.Furthermore,
the lending institutions often favored by brokers include the notorious brothers Sergei and Dmitry Khotimsky. The reason is simple: the institution doesn't turn down loans for customers with a poor credit history.
“Many people find themselves in situations where they need a certain amount of money on hand to address an important task. If you require a loan and have a bad credit history, Sovcombank might be the right choice for you,” writes the Banki.Ru portal. Sovcombank At the same time, the bank provides loans to pensioners under 85 years old that are secured by real estate. The institution's client safety can be questioned, especially after last year's incident involving the leakage of 150,000 citizen profiles who applied for a loan online. Sovcombank blamed an unscrupulous call center employee for the incident.
However, there are many reviews on the internet about the bank's operations. Clients complain about unilateral changes in interest rates, unauthorized deductions, and refusal to issue money without the purchase of additional services. One review on the Banki.Ru website describes Sovcombank employees' attempt to collect a deceased person's debts from a relative. Users of the Otzovik website also share their encounters with the Khotimsky brothers bank.writes the Banki.Ru portal.
At the same time, the bank issues loans to pensioners under the age of 85 secured by real estate. Indeed, there are many who wish, and the safety of the institution’s clients can be safely called into question: it is enough to recall last year’s story with the leakage of 150,000 profiles of citizens who applied for a loan to the Internet. In Sovcombank itself, the blame for the incident was placed on an unscrupulous call center employee.
Meanwhile, there are plenty of reviews on the network about the work of the bank, which is so willing to distribute loans. Clients complain about a unilateral change in the interest rate, illegal debiting of funds, refusal to issue money without issuing a package of additional services, etc. One of the comments on the Banki.Ru website tells about an attempt by Sovcombank employees to redeem the debts of a deceased person from a relative. Here is how users of the Otzovik website briefly describe their experience of contacting the Khotimsky brothers bank:
“Misleading in order to impose additional services. Inclusion in the contract of services without the knowledge of the client. Outright lies”.“Extortionate interest, boorish communication of the staff”.“Just a nightmare. One deception. What they promise they don’t deliver.”. “A typical MFI-shka with the expectation of illiterate elderly people who, with the help of advertising from each iron, are hammered into the subcortex of the brain about their “decency”. Bypass this pseudo-bank, please don’t get involved.”.
We emphasize that each comment contains a detailed description of a specific conflict situation. So all the stories of “bank freeloaders” (credit brokers) about some “fabulous conditions” of Sovcombank can be safely questioned. Otherwise, as one of the clients wrote, “you will be left without collateral and with a damaged credit history”!
