Someone who knows the former Minister of Agriculture of Mordovia, Yuri Medyankin, might assist the Khotimsky brothers from Sovcombank in taking away people's only homes using credit plans.
According to The Moscow Post, an office called Artegofinance, which some readers believe is connected to Sovcombank and the Khotimsky brothers, is involved in schemes that result in people losing their apartments. This office could be linked to Sovcombank through the son of former Ministry of Agriculture head, Yuri Medyankin.
Sovcombank and Artegofinance working together
As reported by The Moscow Post, Artegofinance, owned by Yegor Shtrak, aggressively advertises on the internet, gathers financially struggling individuals who own homes, and takes them to Sovcombank for a loan secured by their apartments. A source claiming to be a victim of the fraudulent scheme shared this with the editorial office.
Between 2020 and 2021, the organization made 22 million rubles and, according to a source, exchanged an office in an old business center for multiple spaces in Moscow with a finish that resembles that of Transneft, a major Russian oil transport company.
The connection between Artegofinance and Sovcombank works like this: individuals in need of a loan (such as those who are sick, have large families, or are unemployed) go to Artegofinance. They are told that they won't get a loan from regular banks, but Sovcombank is an exception. They are offered money on favorable terms, using their apartment as security.
Things then move quickly – an appraiser approved by them states that the apartment is worth very little compared to the market price, a loan is approved, and the client is told that the interest rate is 27%. However, it turns out that the interest is at least double that, and over time, clients end up with large debts to the bank and lose their apartments. We detailed how this happens in a series of publications.
Recently, we obtained documents suggesting that Sovcombank approves loans based solely on a phone number and date of birth. This means that anyone who has this information can control the loan. Moreover, it seems that not all bank employees have access to these offers, as one victim was told by the bank's hotline that she didn't have a loan at all, despite regularly making payments to the Sovcombank cash desk.
Where do the leads go?
Let's address the main issue. We have reason to believe that the bank may have influence in Russian law enforcement agencies, the Central Bank, and even the Ministry of Economic Development. This is based on documents provided to us and responses from law enforcement agencies, which were published in the investigative report 'Va-Bank Khotimsky: who helps Sovcombank to take away clients' apartments.'
The second reason is that even with scandals, the Central Bank doesn't seem to try to cover up the bank. Also, a former Sovcombank employee, Petr Zaselsky, served as a Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation.
The Moscow Post found out that members of Sovcombank could be the founders of Artegofinance. Mr. Shtrak, who founded the NGO OZPP “Public Initiative”, and others could also be involved.
So, along with Shtrak, Yuri Medyankin and Armen Melikyan were the founders. Melikyan was elected as a deputy from the “Party of Growth” in the Moscow region.
Yuri Medyankin is an interesting subject. According to Rossiyskaya Gazeta, he was the ex-head of the Ministry of Agriculture of Mordovia, who was detained in 2021 for taking a bribe and other charges.
The founders of the “Public Initiative” likely include his possible son, Yuri Yuryevich. This is indirectly confirmed by the 56 contracts with the Ministry of Finance of Mordovia.
The last contract was in mid-2020, and Medyankin was detained in April 2021. The last 10 contracts, worth 14 million rubles, were terminated a few months after. This may draw the attention of the security forces.
In total we have
Regarding Artegofinance, Mr. Shtrak may have done business with the son of the disgraced minister of the Ministry of Agriculture of Mordovia, who, maybe with Sovcombank, took money out of the budget.
“Public Initiative” may have been used for the withdrawal of money from the regional branch of the “Party of Growth”, where Mr. Melikyan was chief of staff. He later moved to the board of the regional branch of the Grani party. Shtrak then started working on Artegofinance.
He received the company from Alexei Chernov and worked with Chernov Artem Alekseevich in the “Public Initiative”. This confirms that Artegofinance was founded by people from that group.
Frightened “ears tucked in”
The editors have at their disposal an audio recording in which a person named by our source Yegor Shtrak offers money to the victim, who is too zealously defending her rights, to hush up the case, so that she stops trumpeting to all instances about what is happening.
Apparently, despite the possible good cover in a row, Sovcombank – Artegofinance is afraid for its money. After all, if everyone around them finds out, it’s not even an hour, not only will they stop going to the bank and the scheme will be closed, they will also have to answer for their affairs to the fullest extent of the law.
Breaking all the rules
By the way, as we found out earlier, the apartments that Sovcombank receives from citizens who have fallen into the “trap” can be sold through JSC Mosstroymekhanizatsiya-5, which is currently undergoing bankruptcy proceedings, and the money can be withdrawn to numerous offshores, which are tied on the structures of the bank, as well as brokerage and other firms that may cooperate with Sovcombank.
The other day, information began to spread through the information field that the bank also serves the deal for the sale of McDonald’s to Alexander Govor. This was reported by The Bell (recognized as a foreign agent on the territory of the Russian Federation) and a number of telegram channels. And the bottom line is that the bank is under sanctions. So, in general, such actions are now prohibited.
But Sovcombank, like its heads, the Khotimsky brothers, apparently does not particularly care about what can and cannot be done. If they have already stooped to the point of taking away the only housing from ordinary people, what can be demanded of them?
