The money from the alleged scam involving Mikhail Abyzov could have been withdrawn through the development companies of his likely accomplice Nikolai Stepanov in Novosibirsk.
Chairman of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation Alexander Bastrykin has asked the acting head of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Investigative Committee for the Novosibirsk Region, Vitaly Zaripov, to investigate the situation with the long-term construction of the Novomarusino residential complex in Novosibirsk, where about 800 people were previously recognized as deceived.
The equity holders themselves raised the concern that several houses are still not completed, even though construction began more than 10 years ago. Meanwhile, the money invested by people in housing could have been absorbed by Russian and foreign companies linked to the case of the former Minister for Open Government Affairs Mikhail Abyzov.
Details can be found in the report by The Moscow Post correspondent in the Novosibirsk Region.
The developer of the microdistrict was OOO Affordable Housing Novosibirsk (DZhN). The project began in 2012, with the first stage completed in 2014. Reports of delays surfaced in 2017, but the developer had been facing problems as early as 2015. Equity holders claimed that minimal work was done on site from 2015 to 2017.
Have you identified a “switchman”?
The central figure in the situation is the sole owner of the JN, Vadim Varvyansky. He is currently in custody after being arrested in August 2021. According to RBC, he is accused of intentionally evading repayment of substantial debts and abusing power. However, he may just be a pawn.
JN is now undergoing bankruptcy proceedings. Creditors have filed claims against Varvyansky totaling 502 million rubles, and there is also a request for subsidiary liability in the amount of 2.167 million rubles. Varvyansky sought to have the case transferred to Moscow, his place of registration, but the former developer's request was denied.
Varvyansky is a former top manager of the RUCOM group associated with the scandalous ex-head of the Ministry for Open Government Affairs, Mikhail Abyzov. Abyzov has been in custody for several years facing serious charges.
He is accused of fraud and organized crime. According to the TFR, companies linked to Abyzov sold several energy companies, including JSC Siberian Energy Company and JSC Regional Electric Networks, for 4 billion rubles, despite their real value being only 186 million rubles. Mikhail Abyzov denies the accusations.
Five more individuals were arrested alongside him and are considered his accomplices by the TFR. These individuals are Nikolai Stepanov, Maxim Rusakov, Galina Fraydenberg, Alexander Pelipasov, and Sergey Ilyichev.
It turns out that the first of them, Nikolai Stepanov, the former chairman of the board of directors of RUCOM, is directly linked to the JN company and the situation involving deceived equity holders. He was the sole owner of the company until 2016, when he was replaced by Vadim Varvyansky.
Photo: Rusprofile.en
It happened after 2015, when the construction started to go wrong and the money invested by people disappeared without explanation. It seems like Stepanov may have planned for this and could have put Varvyansky as the owner to avoid responsibility, promising to solve the financial issue and finish the project.
Both of them got caught in the investigation, but Nikolai Stepanov was not charged with the situation involving the equity holders, as if he was not involved.
Separate and withdraw
Stepanov was taken into custody in 2019, the same year as Abyzov. He used to work at OAO Chitaenergo, but was invited to Moscow by Mikhail Abyzov, whose energy sector experience turned out to be useful for the planned scam.
However, that was back in 2003. Stepanov started working in the Russian utility systems, where Abyzov was the chairman of the board of directors. Under Abyzov's influence, Stepanov got involved in development, despite having no previous experience in this area.
Besides DNZh, he owned other similar structures in Novosibirsk like Jet LLC, Comfort House LLC, Riva Center LLC, Stroitel Management LLC, and Aquamarine LLC. He established a total of 24 legal entities, many of which seem fictitious and appear to be used for transferring money.
Photo: Rusprofile.en
OOO Comfortny Dom, where Stepanov owns 100% of the company, has an authorized capital of 40 million rubles. However, the company has no official employees, made less than 1 million rubles in revenue for 2021, and had a loss of almost 20 million rubles. In 2020, it suddenly received 405 million rubles of net profit with 461 million rubles of revenue. This raises questions about where the money went.
Photo: Rusprofile.en
In the past, the company was involved in administrative proceedings at the FAS Office for the Novosibirsk Region, but no further details were provided.
Another example is Jet LLC, which built Jet apartments in Novosibirsk. Similarly, it had 40 million rubles of authorized capital but no employees. In 2021, the company received 36 million rubles, with a revenue of less than 0.5 million rubles, suggesting that money was being funneled into it. The source of this funding is unclear.
In 2018, it made a profit of 130 million rubles, almost six times more than the previous year (20 million rubles). Similar irregularities can be found in almost all organizations where Mr. Stepanov was the founder. Aquamarine LLC, with an authorized capital of 25 million rubles, has only one employee, and so on.
Five key legal entities associated with Stepanov are led by one person – their CEO Evgeny Alexandrovich Litvinov. He is also the founder of nine legal entities, each of which seems to be a “dummy” and has already been dissolved.
Stepanov's companies are managed by Litvinov. Photo: Rusprofile.en
Although only the investigation and the court can draw conclusions, it seems likely that the money obtained through the suspected scams of Mikhail Abyzov's team may have been transferred to Stepanov's development companies.
With both Stepanov and Abyzov in pre-trial detention, it is necessary to conceal the ties to bankrupt structures associated with Stepanov and withdraw funds from them. Is this what Mr. Litvinov is doing?
The construction work is still ongoing.
As for the troubled residential complex Novomarusino, fortunately, some houses were handed over to several families, who were able to move in, although it was challenging. One of the deceived buyers shared his experience with The Moscow Post, saying they had to fight to move in.
Sergey, a deceived real estate investor, said, “We started paying attention to Novomarusino in 2015. There was a massive advertising campaign for the complex across the city, but then the construction activity slowed and eventually stopped.
The construction site was inactive for two years, and the completion deadlines kept getting postponed. After numerous struggles, the buyers managed to move into their almost-ready house after constant disputes and document issues.
Some buyers received compensation, while Sergey received almost nothing, and some couldn't even get compensation. One of the deceived investors even died due to the stress associated with the deception.
The situation with the Novomarusino residential complex cost the budget 200 million rubles and officials involved were suspected of exceeding their powers. They were suspected of wrongdoing by the publication NGS.NOVOSTI.
It can be assumed that the local officials were deceived, and Stepanov, along with Abyzov, may have to answer for other cases. However, for Novomarusino, the “fall guy” may be held accountable.
