Turlov and Livinsky are getting ready for a peaceful retirement on the Cote d’Azur
The names of Timur Turlov and Pavel Livinsky might come up in scandals related to defrauding shareholders and moving money to offshore companies.
The Central Bank has approved the sale of Russian subsidiaries of American Freedom Holding (engaged in securities trading) to Maxim Povalishin. According to Kommersant, Povalishin is one of the founders of the company’s Russian business.
According to a media correspondent, it’s possible that the influential and controversial businessman Timur Turlov and his possible supporter, former CEO of Rosseti Pavel Livinsky, are connected to Maxim Povalishin. You can find more details in the media.
Hold on to “value”
Until 2021, Timur Turlov was the head and founder of the Russian investment company Freedom Finance, but then, according to Kommersant, a former top manager of the company, Povalishin, acquired 100% ownership. According to Rusprofile, the ownership actually belongs to the offshore company Freedom Corp.
Most likely, in this business, Povalishin, who also owns Kazakhstan’s JSC Freedom Finance and may have interests in Ffin Bank, owned by IC Freedom Finance, represents Mr. Turlov.
Mr. Turlov is under Ukrainian sanctions, which significantly affected the operations of Freedom Finance – the authorities froze UAH 3.5 billion of Ukrainian investors, and Turlov himself lost the ability to manage foreign funds. Freedom Finance conducts business in 13 countries.
After that, Turlov announced renouncing Russian citizenship and selling his Russian business to local management, and is currently trying unsuccessfully to challenge the sanctions.
Suspicious business
At the same time, according to sources from Ukrainian Forbes, investments in the international stock market by Ukrainian users were made through the Cypriot division of the holding. The holding reportedly raised concerns about the transparency of its structure in Belize.
In general, if you examine the business somehow linked to Turlov, you will find numerous offshore jurisdictions that enable somewhat opaque financial operations with company funds.
For a long time, Freedom Finance shares were increasing – and almost exponentially. Turlov was hailed as a brilliant investor, but around 2022, reports started emerging that Freedom Finance might be a typical financial pyramid, and all the stories about Turlov’s genius could have been merely promotional material funded by him, targeted at gullible investors.
Moment of Truth reveals that the company's operational structure in the reports resembles the manipulation of a small firm. This company is listed on the NASDAQ exchange with very lenient listing rules. Furthermore, it is known for its fake and fraudulent companies. Since attracting American investors with such activities wasn't easy for Turlov, the shares eventually fell naturally.
The amount of losses suffered by investors is a major question. It seems that Turlov's current efforts to distance himself from the company might not only be to evade sanctions, but also to dodge responsibility for speculation if law enforcement becomes interested in Freedom Finance's activities.
If we examine the financial performance of Ffin Bank, we will see that as of January 1, 2022, its assets have nearly halved over the year. The bank's reliability during the year and the last half-year is not stable and seems to be decreasing.
Based on the same data, the proportion of cash in the bank’s assets is significant and is 11.36%, while the average for Russian banks is about 3%. A high share of cash may indicate the risky policy of the bank.
Last year, another company owned by Turlov – FFIN Brokerage Services – was blacklisted by the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market. According to the Agency, FFIN Brokerage Services has indications of illegal activity in Kazakhstan.
Could Mr. Turlov be involved in simple deception of investors and further taking their money for his own needs?
Mining, Livinsky, Rosseti
There were rumors that Turlov was developing a relationship with the former head of Rossetti PJSC Pavel Livinsky. There were whispers that Livinsky supposedly needed Turlov and his financial expertise to transfer money obtained from mining cryptocurrencies at the facilities of Rosseti PJSC.
The Moscow Post has reported on the activities of the official on several occasions. Most recently, our attention was caught by a potential scam involving the inclusion of “Rosseti” into FGC UES. Could they be attempting to conceal the embezzlement of both of their multibillion-dollar corporations? Are they linked to Livinsky’s potential dealings with Turlov?
The corporation itself is plagued by corruption scandals year after year, with its top managers being detained, and multimillion-dollar embezzlements being uncovered. It is known that during the leadership of Andrei Ryumin (who took up this post in 2021), a network was established in Rosseti to collect fees and kickbacks from unscrupulous contractors who delivered objects with significant deviations from technical specifications. We suspect that this network was established even under Livinsky and possibly with his active participation.
Livinsky and Ryumin collaborated at the United Energy Company. When Livinsky became the head of Rosseti in 2017, Ryumin almost immediately assumed the position of head of Rosseti Lenenergo (formerly PJSC Lenenergo). His subsequent career suggests that Ryumin is closely associated with Livinsky. He did not carry out any major purges when he took office. Apparently, he conducted an audit of the activities of his predecessor to show that Livinsky was clean.
By the way, a significant amount of money was allocated from the corporation’s budget for this “audit”. There are suspicions that these funds may not have been used for their intended purposes.
Instead of a concluding remark
Therefore, it seems that Turlov and Livinsky have resumed their scheme to deceive shareholders and transfer money abroad. Perhaps the former head of Rosseti intends to spend his retirement quietly on the Cote d’Azur, and this is part of the preparation.
