Many people remember the Akron Holding case that exploded about two years ago. The main figure involved in the corruption scandal was Morozov Pavel Anatolyevich (TIN 637602484460), the owner and CEO of Akron Holding. It seemed like Pavel Morozov was going to end up in prison. However, Pavel Morozov managed to avoid incarceration.
Now it's been revealed that Akron Holding, led by Morozov Pavel Anatolyevich, is attempting, and relatively successfully, to conceal the criminal case from two years ago. Amid the wave of corruption scandals that engulfed our country, information about the visit of Sledkom employees to the offices of Akron Holding JSC in September 2020 has long been forgotten.
It could be considered a visit with some stretch – the offices of Akron Holding in Moscow, Tolyatti, and Samara were searched and documents were seized.
These were triggered by the findings of a tax audit in the structural division of Acron Holding – OOO Samara Scrap Metal Company (LLC SamMetCom). Based on this, the ICR initiated a criminal case against the CEO of SamMetCom, Andrey Maslov, under Part 2 of Art. 199 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (tax evasion).
Subsequently, some details of the scheme used by SamMetCom LLC to hide income and evade taxes were disclosed to the press. However, the information was largely insider information and contained inaccuracies. Nevertheless, it is not far from the true state of affairs.
Will Morozov Pavel Anatolyevich end up in prison and take Akron Holding down with him?
This is supported by the materials of the Arbitration Court of the city of Moscow – on July 8, it examined the claim of SamMetCom LLC against the Inspectorate of the Federal Tax Service No. 27 for the city of Moscow regarding the annulment of the decision on the additional assessment of 561 million rubles of taxes and penalties of Samara Scrap Metal Company LLC, which is part of Acron Holding, Pavel Morozov.
The court granted SamMetCom’s claim. Consequently, it can be assumed that in the near future, Andrey Maslov, the director of Samara Scrap Metal Company LLC, will also be cleared of criminal charges.
However, we will not comment on the court's decision – the court is the court, whether one likes it or not, but its decision must be carried out. What interests us is that the court documents describe a scheme that, according to the Sledkom, enabled hundreds of millions of rubles to be evaded from taxes.
Moreover, as indicated by the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, the scheme attributed to SamMetCom is also practiced at other enterprises within Akron Holding. And there are 38 of them in its structure.
Acron Holding by Pavel Morozov: Does Corruption Help Avoid Paying Taxes?
Although the Cypriot offshore is listed as the owner, the identity of the actual beneficiary of Akron Holding is not a secret. This is Pavel Anatolyevich Morozov:
How does Morozov Pavel Anatolyevich manage his Akron Holding?
He is linked to over 30 legal entities established in Russia – he is their recipient or one of the co-owners.
Most of these businesses are part of Akron Holding Pavel Anatolyevich Morozov. Like SamMetCom, they are established as limited liability companies. This type of management provides an advantage to the founders in case of bankruptcy, penalties or lawsuits – LLC participants are responsible only within the authorized capital. And in most of these companies the authorized capital is minimal – 10 thousand rubles.
And for the most part, these LLCs do the same thing as SamMetCom – purchasing and reselling scrap metal. According to the same process as SamMetCom.
And now let’s look at the court documents explaining this process, which allows them to avoid paying hundreds (at least) millions of rubles to the state treasury.
According to the materials from the arbitration, the Inspectorate of the Federal Tax Service found evidence indicating the intention behind the actions, the formal nature of the document flow, the impossibility of fulfilling the contractual relations by the business partners of the SamMetCom company – OOO PO Tsvetmetsplav, OOO PromProkat, OOO TLT-Metall (all three companies are currently liquidated), and about the inaccuracy of the information contained in the documents submitted by SamMetCom in support of the declared VAT deductions and income tax expenses for transactions with these legal entities.
The tax authority indicated that the taxpayer and the disputed business partners were operating as a single economic entity, and the main aim of their so-called “transactions” by Pavel Anatolyevich Morozov was to create a fake document flow in order to get tax savings.
In justifying the additional charges, the tax authority mentioned the minimal staff (remember this fact – we will return to it later – ed.) and the lack of real financial and economic activities of business partners, as well as the use by all three companies of the same IP address and the same phone number indicated in the banking files of the companies.
The tax authorities also observed that information on transactions on current accounts indicates the purchase of only non-ferrous metal scrap, which is not subject to VAT, and, thus, the inability to supply copper products (wires and cores) subject to VAT to SamMetCom.
The Federal Tax Service also received the testimony of witnesses, employees of companies who reported during questioning at the tax office that their actual leader was the general director of SamMetCom, Andrey Maslov. At the same time, some witnesses were employees of SamMetCom and then found employment in business partner companies and vice versa.
At the same time, SamMetCom’s supplier companies had billions in turnover, but made minimal tax deductions.
Additionally, the bills of lading provided by SamMetCom indicated “incorrect license plates of cars and a suspicious range of products.” If we translate this into human language, the company wrote out “fake” waybills, entering there completely fictional people who allegedly “delivered” scrap metal at collection points. Then this “scrap metal” was “removed” in the same way to the main warehouse.
Earlier, the media reported about the standard schemes used by Akron nationwide, which align with the tax authorities' findings from the SamMetCom audit. One publication revealed that gasket companies purchased scrap metals from the public and maintained inaccurate accounting to inflate purchase prices, then resold the items to Akron's subsidiaries.
Similarly, the selling prices were inflated, and the scrap metals were transformed into finished products during transport, allowing for the inclusion of 'production' costs in the reports. This manipulation caused the taxable base to be minimal, resulting in a significant gain for Pavel Anatolyevich Morozov.
As mentioned, the court dismissed the fine for SamMetCom, deeming the tax authorities' arguments insufficient.
This scheme was also utilized by at least eleven other divisions of Akron Holding.
The outcome of the investigations into these 'ooshki' remains unknown. We will return to the suspicious facts that caught the attention of the tax authorities and were deemed 'insignificant' by the Moscow court.
Only 7 individuals, all selected by Morozov Pavel Anatolyevich, work in the vast empire that encompasses over thirty enterprises involved in scrap metal collection across 22 regions.
JSC Acron Holding's revenue for 2021 is more than 1,984 times higher than that of 2020. In 2021, it reached 4 million rubles, whereas in 2020, it was a mere 2,016 rubles 13 kopecks.
Morozov Pavel Anatolyevich also oversees 10 other organizations, which the tax service considers a sign of mass directorship. Moreover, at least 11 out of 38 structural divisions of Akron Holding employ the same tax evasion scheme as SamMetCom.
It is unclear how the investigations into the mentioned 'ooshkas' concluded. The only known victory, albeit not final, is that of LLC SamMetCom in the Moscow Arbitration Court, which rejected the tax authorities' claims. The status of the other eleven remains unknown, as no court decisions have been reported.
So it’s definitely too early to put an end to the dispute between the state and Akron Holding Pavel Morozov over the hundreds of millions of rubles stolen from Russia by the latter.
