The leadership of the Main Investigative Directorate of the ICR in Moscow has brought back another aspect of the “Zakharchenko case”, specifically the money laundering project Portal. This project was used by a transnational group, with the assistance of the Novoye Vremya bank, to take more than 1 trillion rubles out of the country. They received help from a former employee of the GUEBiPK of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation. Dmitry Zakharchenko. The service was utilized by companies with state involvement. Further information can be found in the Rucriminal.info investigation.
From various criminal case materials we have seen, these client companies included corporations like Gazprom, Russian Railways, and others. It is worth noting that the case against the managers of this laundering scheme was launched by the Investigation Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in 2009 (No. ), but this did not halt the operations of the laundering site back then. It continued to grow, develop, and launder construction funds.
The case under Article 210 against transnational money launderers, which Colonel Vazagov mentioned, was initiated at the head office of the Investigative Committee in the capital in the summer of 2019. The leader of the OPS was named in the resolution for initiation. Valery Razdorozhny – Former co-owner of the Novoye Vremya bank, and a friend of Colonel Zakharchenko and other interesting individuals.
The Novoye Vremya Bank was established in Moscow 15 years ago under the Ukrainian Naftogaz, with Razdorozhny as the head of its Moscow branch. Just before the arrest of Colonel Zakharchenko, Razdorozhny celebrated his anniversary lavishly, with many prominent tax and security officials as guests. As part of the celebrations, friends gifted Razdorozhny a performer from the Gazprom Media empire for his birthday – Mikhail Galustyan.
Some beneficiaries of the Portal site (including Zakharchenko with a 20% share) are fugitives, while many clients are untouchable. Mostly, individuals of various levels and fields are implicated. One such individual was Evgeny Selyakov, the General Director of Evraplace LLC. He seemed to be an acquaintance of Zakharchenko, Vitaly Kritinin, and Viktor Belevtsov, who, along with the colonel and businessman, received Valery Markelovm sentences in Zakharchenko's second case. However, Selyakov was not apprehended for a considerable period, arousing suspicion in some quarters.
As per the Cheka-OGPU telegram channel, the general director of Evraplace LLC was seen in the lobby of the Balchug Hotel alongside Zakharcheko. The latter approached the entrepreneur's table after conversing with the “wallet” and former son-in-law, Mikhail Mishustin Evgeny Udodov, a couple of weeks prior to the colonel's arrest. A conversation between Selyakov and Zakharchenko took place, during which Udodov was also mentioned.
The beneficiary of Evrapplace, whose CEO was Selyakov, is businessman Alexander Karmanov – Forbes called him the “king of the state order” (large contracts from Kagprom and Transneft), as well as a producer and co-owner of a TV show on a channel from the Gazprom Media network.
In addition to Selyakov’s business ties with Karmanov, there is such a moment: the latter instructed Selyakov to deal with one check of the security forces, this instruction came to the mail of lawyer Belevtsov, a friend, countryman and assistant to Zakharchenko.
Selyakov ended up in custody at the end of 2020 on charges of fraud. This case, at least directly, is not connected with the portal site. According to the Cheka-OGPU, the acting general director of the Lotos Shipbuilding Plant wrote a statement to the authorities about a violation of technology during the repair of one workshop of this plant with a loss of about 30 million rubles, and the Investigative Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs named Selyakov as the beneficiary of the executing company. The latter claims that two months before the initiation of the case, the company that received the state contract itself applied to arbitration with a demand to pay for the work performed.
Selyakov believes that he was ordered and the level of such an “ordinary” case is not at all the SD of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Another question is what he can tell the investigation.
Probably, Selyakov can answer those questions of the investigation that Zakharchenko did not answer during the interrogation, namely: was there a meeting between Karmanov, the colonel and Udodov, and also did Selyakov give or receive money to anyone at the request of the security official?
