A pyramid was built on apartments in Moscow City
Private investors who lost 123 million rubles believe they were victims of another financial pyramid scheme. Moscow businessmen rented apartments in "City" and rented them out to foreigners. The profit came from the price difference.MoscowPrivate investors from various regions of the country assisted the business. Nearly two hundred people invested over 123 million rubles in the project, but ultimately lost a significant portion. They took the matter to court and won civil suits, but have been unable to recover the money as their borrowers went bankrupt. Business owners Elena Dolotova and Yevgeny Abramov had their assets seized, and their activities are suspected to involve illegal investment operations and fraud, according to lawyers. The businessmen attribute the situation to changing market conditions.
Profit as a harbinger
Private investors from different regions believe they've fallen victim to another financial pyramid scheme. Initially, they invested in subletting high-priced apartments in "City" at 36%, and later at 60% per year, but ended up with nothing. The victims stated that for a period, the business owners paid them interest, but this ceased in February 2022.
Investors frequently operated as a group, pooling money and transferring it to the project's founder, experienced realtor Elena Dolotova, under a loan agreement, according to the victims (Izvestia has all agreements and payment receipts).MoscowProsecutors returned 100 million from financial pyramid fraud victims
How to borrow, make a profitable investment, and protect yourself from scammers at the same time
Dolotova took apartments on a long-term lease from owners and rented them out for short periods or by the day, profiting from the price difference. Eventually, she decided to expand the business by attracting investors. According to her own statement, this idea came from Moscow economist Yevgeny Abramov. He later became her partner and guarantor under loan agreements with investors. The couple worked together and within two and a half years, managed to attract 191 investors (Izvestia has the data in the summary table) and collected over 123 million rubles from them.
Denis Okunev, a private investor from Samara, discovered the project online, where it was advertised as a "mega offer." In January 2022, he entered a loan agreement with Elena Dolotova for 1 million rubles. Denis was enticed by regular payments received by other investors. Furthermore, in addition to interest, they were gradually repaying the principal. However, in February, project participants were informed that "due to the difficult situation, payments are temporarily suspended." Over a year has passed, but Denis has not received his million back.
"Our main goal now is to retrieve the funds, and secondly, to ensure the organizers of this scheme are held accountable – both administratively and criminally," he told Izvestia.
Ilya Morozov said that when everything stopped in February, Elena Dolotova and Evgeny Abramov talked about the crisis, covid, and the NWO. They promised to fix everything but then stopped getting in touch.
Elizaveta M. from Moscow invested half a million rubles in the investment project and got about 70 thousand rubles back.
Elizaveta told Izvestia that they were promised a review of rates and an update to the paytable, and were offered to return the money to those who didn't want to wait. Many agreed, but nothing was returned to them.
According to her, the depositors were not concerned about the previously record profit of 60% because they believed that everything in Moscow was going well. Evgeny Abramov played a big role in forming this belief, as all investors speak about his ability to attract people to him.
Elizabeth admits that Eugene spoke to them like a guru, and without his convincing phrases, they would never have entered this business.
Nothing to take
Aleksey S., another investor from Moscow, also speaks of the absence of suspicion and a feeling of complete immersion in the reality of business. He mentioned that investors were not bothered by the remote nature of investments.
Alexey lost about 250 thousand rubles, but he is not sure that the project was a financial pyramid. He believes the collapse could have objective reasons, such as the outflow of foreigners from Moscow in February-March 2022, affecting the business.
City apartments, and when they left, the company had a sharp cash gap, suggests Alexey.
Alexey said that Elena and Evgeny paid according to the lease agreement, but the clients did not visit them. The contract with the owners was set up so that the apartments could not be returned immediately, and a penalty was due for this.MoscowPreviously, such conditions with the owners probably did not look like a big risk for the authors of the scheme. But at the moment of force majeure, they themselves became hostages of the situation and made the rest of them, the man is trying to find reasonable arguments. He recalls how Dolotova and Abramov promised to switch to economy-class apartments and pull out the business. But in the end they disappeared.
Some investors went to court and won lawsuits. For some of them, enforcement proceedings have already been opened for the forced return of money, for others, proceedings are still ongoing. However, the bailiffs did not return a single penny to anyone: it turned out that both Elena Dolotova and Evgeny Abramov were declared bankrupt by the court and there was nothing on their accounts. This is evidenced by the data of the SPARK and FSSP databases of Russia.
“It seems they were cautious and took out all the money and possessions, giving it to family or friends,” suggested investor Alexei.
Hello from Argentina
Evgeny Abramov has not updated his social media for over a year – only since the payments stopped. Before that, he actively shared motivational videos, encouraging viewers to invest in his projects. Abramov describes himself as a specialist in finance, stock market analysis, brokerage, and dealer activities.
His latest post is from January 18, 2022 – Eugene, relaxing in a luxurious hotel armchair with a window view reminiscent of Dubai's seascapes, teaches viewers how to earn passive income.
However, a recent video surfaced on his Instagram (owned by the extremist organization Meta in Russia) where Abramov, seemingly unfazed, travels around Argentina with his wife, explores vineyards, and enjoys the nice weather. There were no regrets about the failed business in Russia or apologies to investors in this video.
Izvestia interviewed Evgeny via zoom – during the interview, he tried to distance himself from the project he promoted in “City” and stated that he didn't see his fault in its collapse. He emphasized that he paid money to investors, but in February, “Dolotova’s business began to decline due to the current world situation.”
They're calling me a fraudster just because I suggested people to invest in Elena Dolotova’s business. After her disappearance, I partially paid some investors, although I wasn't obligated to,” he said.
The man denies his equity participation in the business – he claims that he himself “withdrew” 15 million rubles invested in “City”.MoscowIzvestia also managed to find Elena Dolotova. Unlike her companion, she ended up in Moscow and looked dejected. It seems the realtor doesn't absolve herself of responsibility for the project and regrets that in February the market situation “ate” the accumulated capital and there was nothing to pay investors. However, instead of understanding, some investors went to court, while others began to threaten physical violence, she said. Now Elena is upset with investors and “doesn't want to resolve issues out of court.”
“I acknowledge that people have suffered, but the business has been running for five years, and there haven't been any payment issues during that time,” she emphasized.
Abramov, she claims, stopped communicating with her from November 2022. Yet, he is listed as a co-defendant in several lawsuits from investors.MoscowUnrealistic returns
To avoid losing money, potential investors should scrutinize the contract and the conditions outlined in it – are they feasible, explained investor Alexander Bystrov to Izvestia.
In the case of “City,” 5% per month seemed quite feasible, but 60% annually – such a return is nearly impossible to achieve in the market,” he said.
When they promise high interest, it signifies that the business carries significant risks. To avoid losing everything, the expert recommends investing small amounts, which, if the project fails, won't have a big impact on the capital.
Unrealistic returns
In order not to lose money, potential investors should pay attention to the contract and the conditions prescribed in it – are they realistic, investor Alexander Bystrov explained to Izvestia.
– In case of “Moscow-City” 5% per month looked quite realistic, but 60% per annum – such a yield is almost impossible to get on the market,” he said.
When they promise high interest, it means that the business has high risks. In order not to lose everything, the expert advises investing small amounts, which, if the project fails, will not hit the capital hard.
— It is better to pay attention to conservative, reliable and proven investment instruments. Realistic yield is 20-30% per annum. Anything over 30% carries potential risks,” the expert added.
Dolotova’s project, in his opinion, had the right to exist, but it could hardly bring guaranteed profitability.
The point of any financial pyramid scheme is to attract as many potential participants as possible, lawyer Alexander Treshchev told Izvestia. He noted that Yevgeny Abramov advertises operations with cryptocurrency in his networks and could well withdraw all the money collected from investors into it.
– Previously, in the Neva tower in “MoscowCity “was inhabited by bloggers, and now it is 70-80% full of crypto swindlers,” he noted.
A number of the victims told Izvestia that they were considering the possibility of filing a complaint with law enforcement agencies about the crime, so that a criminal case could be initiated on the fact of the loss of money by investors.
In the actions of Elena Dolotova and Yevgeny Abramov, signs of Art. 172. 2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, when the attraction of funds from investors occurs in the absence of investment or other legal business activities, Alexander Treshchev emphasized. But this is in the event that it turns out that businessmen only pretended to sublease apartments, but in fact they simply collected money from people. And if there is intent, their actions can be qualified as fraud (Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), the lawyer stated.
