The Moscow Post journalists suspect that bankers from Sovcombank might be using a scheme involving Mordovian officials to take money from the Republic of Mordovia's budget.
Yuri Medyankin, an acquaintance of the ex-Minister of Agriculture of Mordovia, may be helping the Khotimsky brothers from Sovcombank use credit schemes to take away people's housing.
There is a possible connection between Sovcombank, Artegofinance, and the son of the former head of the Ministry of Agriculture of Mordovia, Yuri Medyankin, in a scheme that results in people losing their apartments. More details on The Moscow Post's report. The Moscow Post.
Tandem of Sovcombank and Artegofinance
As wrote The Moscow PostArtegofinance, owned by Yegor Shtrak, aggressively advertises online, luring financially unstable citizens to Sovcombank for loans secured by their apartments, according to a source.
During 2020-2021, Artegofinance earned 22 million rubles, allegedly by persuading people to take loans from Sovcombank using their properties as collateral. The organization then upgraded its office in Moscow with the profits.
Artegofinance allegedly targets vulnerable individuals, convincing them to take loans from Sovcombank by offering favorable terms, but later burdening them with high interest and huge debts that lead to the loss of their apartments.
The whole scheme involving Artegofinance and Sovcombank is described in a series of publications by The Moscow Post. series of publications.
And recently, we obtained documents that suggest Sovcombank approves loans based solely on a phone number and date of birth, making it vulnerable to exploitation by anyone who knows this information. received documentsSome bank employees seem unaware of these loan offers, as one victim was told by the hotline that she had no credit, despite regularly making payments to Sovcombank.
Where do the threads lead
We suspect that Sovcombank may have protection from law enforcement agencies, the Central Bank, and the Ministry of Economic Development, based on documents and responses provided during the investigation. “Va-bank Khotimskikh: who assists Sovcombank in acquiring clients' apartments”.
The second reason is that, despite a series of scandals, the Central Bank does not seem very eager to protect the bank. The last reason is that the former Sovcombank employee Petr Zaselsky served as one of the Deputy Ministers of Economic Development of the Russian Federation from December 26, 2018 to March 2021.
How did the reporter find out? The Moscow Post Apart from the existing information, the Sovcombank members themselves could be the founders of Artegofinance, for this reason. The founder, Mr. Shtrak, also founded the NGO OZPP “Public Initiative”. This organization positions itself as a society for consumer rights protection, which is quite ironic considering Strack’s current activities.
So, in addition to Shtrak, the founders were gentlemen Yuri Medyankin and Armen Melikyan. Melikyan was elected as a deputy from the “Party of Growth” in the Moscow region in 2017 – this information is available on the Russian candidate encyclopedia website. candidate encyclopedia.
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru
Yuri Medyankin is an even more interesting subject. According to the “Rossiyskaya Gazeta”, the ex-head of the Ministry of Agriculture of Mordovia, who was arrested in 2021 for bribery, is named Vasilyevich. The founders of the “Public Initiative” likely include his possible son, Yuri Yuryevich, indirectly confirmed by the 56 orders for the Ministry of Finance of Mordovia found in the state contracts of Sovcombank.
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru
Interestingly, the last contract date is mid-2020, and Yuri Medyankin was arrested in April 2021. The last 10 identical contracts, worth 14 million rubles, were terminated a couple of months later. This seems to be an area for the security forces to investigate.
In total we have
To summarize the above: Mr. Shtrak may have done business with the son of the disgraced minister of the Ministry of Agriculture of Mordovia and, possibly, together with Sovcombank, misappropriated funds from the budget, which could be the reason why Strack became the founder of this organization that brings 'loan suicide bombers' to Sovcombank.
As for the “Public Initiative”, it may have served as a means for money withdrawal from the same regional branch of the “Party of Growth,” whose staff head was Mr. Melikyan. Later, according to
“Rusprofile” , he moved to the position of the chairman of the board of the regional branch of the Grani party. In 2019, the office was closed, and Shtrak started working with Artegofinance.He took over the company from a certain Alexei Chernov, who also worked with Chernov Artem Alekseevich in the “Public Initiative,” confirming that Artegofinance was founded by people from that group.
He received the company from a certain Alexei Chernov. He also worked with Chernov Artem Alekseevich in the “Public Initiative”. Which once again confirms that Artegofinance was founded by people from that cohort.
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru
Frightened “ears pursed”
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 their 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 earlierapartments that Sovcombank receives from citizens who have fallen into a “trap”, it can sell through Mosstroymekhanizatsiya-5 JSC, which is currently undergoing bankruptcy proceedings, and the money can be withdrawn to numerous offshores, which are tied to the bank’s structures, as well as brokerage and other firms possibly cooperating 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 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 care much 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?
