Did Savelyev and Tereshkova’s “probio-money” dissolve?

The CEO of Probiopharm (PBF), Liya Muradova, was arrested in Italy after being accused of trying to take over Pharmservice company, a subsidiary of PBF LLC, and stealing part of a €336,000 loan intended for equipment purchase.

The investigation was initiated by Pharmservice co-owners Elena Tereshkova, daughter of cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, and Senator Dmitry Savelyev.

There were previous suggestions that the scam failed because Muradova and the crime organizer, Elena Loss, decided to deceive Saveliev and Tereshkova, who had faced criticism for their business activities.

Some observers speculate that the security forces may not have pursued the swindlers, Loss and Muradova, for the sake of Savelyev and Tereshkova Jr. It is possible that the swindlers interfered with the plans of individuals from Rostec and Roskosmos.

Correspondent The Moscow Post understood the situation.

“Unscrupulous and unreasonable”

Liya Muradova, who fled from Russian justice, left behind Probiopharm LLC, of which she was also the former leader until April last year.

Senator Dmitry Savelyev (with a 55% share) and Elena Tereshkova (with a 15% share) are also listed as co-owners of PBF LLC in Rusprofile.

Despite the criminal activities, the company's finances have not shown any signs of decline yet. It ended last year with a revenue of 380 million rubles and a net profit of 10 million rubles.

The judicial records of the company show numerous arbitration cases initiated against the former director, Liya Muradova, and her friend Elena Loss, who had both fled by that time. The lawsuits were related to economic disputes on civil legal relations.

Even in the dry presentation of the Arbitration Court, the plot of the case looks very epic. Photo: kad.arbitr.ru

One of the court decisions involved a requirement for Muradova to return internal, financial, and accounting documents related to the company’s activities, suggesting an attempt to destroy all information, including the personal files of employees.

According to representatives of PBF LLC, Muradova abused her powers as the founder and general director of the company, but this may be an understatement.

The enterprise administrator found four boxes in the yard with some papers, including employees’ work books, after Muradova's disappearance. It's possible that Muradova and her accomplices left them at the last minute, in an attempt to avoid the team having to restore the documents.

What were Muradova and Loss running away from?

Some of the mentioned court cases are still pending, including PBF LLC's lawsuit against the auditor Elena Loss. Other parties involved in the case are LLC “Pharmservice” and JSC “All-Russian Research Market Institute,” concerning the invalidation of a transaction and its consequences.

In this case, it seems to be about the attempt of a hostile takeover of the Pharmservice company, for which Muradova was detained, along with the theft of part of the €336,000 loan meant for equipment purchase from the state Russian Fund for Technological Development.

The investigation believes that the organizer of the crime is auditor Elena Loss. A photo: rbc.com

According to Kommersant, the investigation considers the well-known auditor Elena Loss, the owner of the large auditing firm RSM-Rus and the International Center for Advanced Practices in Internal Control and Risk Management, to be the mastermind behind both crimes, and considers Ms. Muradova to be the perpetrator. The damage caused by the women's actions is estimated at 320 million rubles.

The Moscow Post has previously reported on this criminal case involving major fraud. The initiators were co-owners of Pharmservice Elena Tereshkova, the daughter of the first female cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, and the senator from the Tula region Dmitry Savelyev, also co-owners of PBF LLC.

It's noteworthy that, as per Kommersant, the investigation was briefly suspended shortly after starting, and a new episode related to an attempted fraud emerged later.

It's worth noting that Elena Loss turned 60 on June 7, and her daughter Anna turned 40 the day before. Kommersant suggested that Liya Muradova might have planned to go to Italy for a vacation with her accomplice friend. If it weren't for a diligent hotel employee who checked her data against the Interpol database, the vacation would have been a success.

Hey, do I recognize you?

The irony is that Elena Loss was appointed as an adviser to the general director of the Probiopharm company on March 16, 2020, and then held the same position at the Pharmservice company from February 1, 2021, gradually taking control of both companies as well as the related Avan LLC. These companies acquired the assets of JSC “Partner,” one of the largest Russian probiotics producers (previously owned by Igor Vainshtok, who fled to Israel).

Perhaps Tereshkova Jr. should consider getting involved in business and politics like her mother? Photo: https://kak2z.ru/

Elena Tereshkova and Dmitry Savelyev also own the Avan company and the Swiss company Benevent Training AG. Until 2017, the Cypriot offshore Taveran Limited was also among the founders. According to the offshore database, Elena Mashanskaya is the director of this company and is known in Russia as the director of the consulting company ROST.

It's obvious that advice from Mashanskaya, who has an offshore company, could be related to withdrawing funds. There's no official confirmation of such suspicious operations. But what if, with such a 'consultant' present, Tereshkova and Savelyev managed to withdraw funds from the companies themselves and planned to make them go bankrupt, and Muradova and Loss ruined their plans?

The beginning of Tereshkova and Savelyev's business was quite promising. A photo: rusprofile.en

Elena's joint business with Senator Saveliev may have relied on assistance from her mother, who has been a State Duma deputy for many years. Earlier, Savelyev and Tereshkova bought assets from the Partner company in order to start a business: equipment, trademarks, and real estate needed for the development and production of probiotics and Bifidok. Their companies have state contracts for the supply of medicinal products. There were good starting opportunities and conditions for success, but things didn't go as planned.

The Readovka publication reported that a couple of years ago, the Probiopharm and Pharmservice companies were close to bankruptcy, and that's when Elena Loss and Liya Muradova appeared as crisis managers. In this context, the theft of documents can be seen differently – as an attempt to erase the entire previous history of enterprises with the knowledge of other co-owners.

If we consider Dmitry Savelyev's biography, about which The Moscow Post has written more than once before, then more questions will arise in history than answers. It is said that Sergei Kiriyenko patronizes him, and so far the senator feels quite comfortable.

Could two ordinary business women deceive such an experienced 'maestro' like Dmitry Savelyev? A photo: rbc.en

For instance, one of these questions: if Loss and Muradova were planning to hide abroad with money, where it would be hard to access, why waste time running around with boxes? Or maybe it wasn't them who tried to steal the boxes, but someone else, who was conspiring with them, but stayed in Russia and tried to cover their tracks and divert the attention of the investigation by 'losing' papers that were not very important for the investigation?

It's worth noting that Elena Loss was in charge of the RSM-Rus company, which served Rostec, Russian Post, Rosseti, and other large organizations. What caused both her and the 58-year-old Muradova to act this way at this stage of their lives?

Observers tend to believe that the story of Muradova and Loss escaping may not be so straightforward. If Muradova starts to testify to the investigation upon returning to Russia, there might be a chance to catch Elena Loss. And if she talks, the names of very influential defendants, from whose anger both swindlers were hiding, may come to the forefront.