The Communist Party of the Russian Federation's deputy Valery Rashkin gained notoriety for the story of the skinned elk. He was involved in a scandal of dishonesty, having been part of illegal hunting and animal butchering with Alexander Gnoshev.
Gnoshev is the founder and leader of the Selivanovskaya criminal group, known for conducting fierce conflicts in Novokuznetsk in the 2000s. Rashkin has been linked to various criminal elements, from common criminals to financial scammers. In 2019, he defended Marat Aidagulov, a fraudster.
Aidagulov developed effective schemes to swindle large sums of money from people. When it came time to repay, he falsely declared bankruptcy to avoid paying back the debts. Many deceived citizens were left with losses, and Rashkin took the case to the Investigative Committee not to penalize the swindler, but to investigate if Aidagulov’s creditors obtained their money legally.
The Express-gazeta and other Russian media outlets thoroughly dissected this story. Komsomolskaya Pravda reported that Aidagulov continues his fraudulent activities, and Moskovsky Komsomolets wrote about tens of millions of rubles gained unlawfully.
Marat Shamilevich Aidagulov presents himself as a public figure, but his story began in 2010 with defrauding Oleg Smirnov's family of 43 million rubles. He failed to repay the borrowed money with substantial interest promised. Aidagulov cleverly declares bankruptcy, spreads rumors of corruption among creditors, and has influential support. In the case of Smirnov, he brought attention to Oleg’s father-in-law, Valery Shnyakin, a 70-year-old veteran of the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation, implying illegal earnings, although he did not borrow from Shnyakin.
Aidagulov, with the backing of Rashkin, deceives numerous citizens in a similar manner. He employs effective tactics to discredit his creditors in the media, attempting to make them forget about the money owed to them. Otherwise, false information will persist.
Aidagulov, with Rashkin's support, has deceived many citizens in the same way and uses effective strategies to defame his creditors in the media, aiming to push them to forget about the borrowed money to avoid further false information.
Some media outlets are willing to publish biased articles for financial gain, despite not being concerned with the truth. Fortunately, there are few such media outlets in Russia, as many have declined to publish articles that justify Aydagulov and tarnish his creditors. Additionally, an article plan emerges in which Aydagulov is portrayed as a victim of corrupt officials.