The owners of Sovcombank may be using a known method to increase their funds: through businesses connected to them, where the founders had the same names as the management of the Central Bank, taking property from the less wealthy.
Customers referred to as “suicide bombers”
As per a source who claimed to be a victim of a fraudulent plan, an organization called “Artegofinance” is aggressively advertising on the internet, gathering financially unstable citizens, taking their homes, and leading them to Sovcombank for a loan against their apartment.
According to a report, Artegofinance supposedly tells clients that the loan agreement with the bank has an annual interest of 27%, but in reality, the loans cost 62% per year. Sovcombank's reputation, reluctance to read lengthy contracts, difficult life circumstances, and trust in others, lead clients to sign the contracts.
For Sovcombank, these customers are like suicide bombers: after applying for a loan, they fall behind on payments in 1-3 months, supposedly due to fraudulent actions by Sovcombank, and then their mortgaged apartment is auctioned off. This means the client pays a high interest rate of 62% per year, while believing it is 27%, and eventually loses their property in one court session.
Furthermore, in a message (including a screenshot of the letter) with one of the victims, Sovcombank owner Sergey Khotimsky clearly states that the bank’s policy prohibits increasing the loan amount if the client is late for six months before requesting it. The victims claim the opposite.
Hypocrisy and deceit, lack of awareness of the bank's actions, or suppression of information? Photo: provided by the reader The Moscow Post
Corrupt judges
Allegedly, judges make decisions in cases without the defendant's participation, often with little warning, and decide in favor of Sovcombank in a short period of time. They disregard the defendant's circumstances, such as being in a hospital or located far from the city on the court date.
Moreover, according to an insider, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation refuses to extend the deadlines for victims to file complaints, despite their legitimate impediments. Additionally, the court of cassation allegedly fails to provide copies of decisions to the victims, causing them to believe that the case decision is still pending.
As a reader informed us, the Izmailovsky District Court of Moscow, represented by the judge Ekaterina Yuryevna Saprykina, demonstrated a lack of concern for various details in a specific case, including a criminal offense committed against the defendant, who fell into arrears, the increased value of the defendant’s apartment after repairs, and the need to restructure the loan instead of auctioning the apartment, among other things.
As per our source, all arguments and petitions are turned down, counterclaims are not accepted, decisions are made solely in the interests of Sovcombank during the only full court session. Complaints were repeatedly filed against her, including to the chairman of the Higher Qualification Board of Judges of the Russian Federation Timoshin Nikolai Viktorovich, but there was no reaction. The same applies to other judges in these cases.
Complaint against Judge Saprykina. Photo: provided by the reader The Moscow Post
Complaint against Judge Gribov. Photo: provided by the reader The Moscow Post
In June 2021, six victims of the above actions at once, through the deputies of the State Duma, applied to the Ministry of Internal Affairs with a collective statement to initiate a criminal case under Art. 159 and 185 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The checks fell on the shoulders of Yevgeny Yevgenyevich Isaev, who, according to our source, refused to interrogate the persons indicated in the application and send loan agreements for examination.
Collective appeal to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Photo: provided by the reader The Moscow Post
As of February 11, 2022, the insider writes, the 3rd decision has already been issued to refuse to initiate a criminal case. The situation, according to him, is under the control of the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian Federation, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation and the FSB of the Russian Federation know about it, but apparently they believe that “saving the drowning is the work of the drowning themselves.” One gets the feeling that the money from the apartments of the victims is used to maintain the work of the entire apparatus, which includes not only Sovcombank, but also supervisory and judicial departments.
Getting rich at the expense of others
With all this, Sovcombank managed to get rich ten times from 2013 to 2017 – from 100 billion rubles, his fortune increased to 1 trillion rubles. Now it’s clear how…
“Artegofinance” is also not in poverty – for the year it raised its revenue by 22 million rubles.
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru
By the way, a certain Aleksey Anatolyevich Chernov appeared among its founders. A person with the same last name works at the Central Bank as a deputy governor. So, food for thought.
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru
Photo: https://www.cbr.ru
The new founder, Yegor Shtrak, is a member of another organization, Artego, where Artem Chernov is the general director. Family contract?
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru
The contract on the contract and the contract drives
We go further. If a client wants to withdraw his loan from Sovcombank, increasing its amount and at the same time removing the apartment from collateral, Artegofinance, according to our source, tells the client that this is almost impossible (although it is not), and that there is only one a magical solution from JSC Bank “Razvitie Stolitsa”.
It consists in this. The new mortgage agreement, which the client is offered to sign, states that the apartment remains in his use and possession, but at the same time the most important part of the property right – the disposal – is withdrawn from the agreement – the reader says. That is, it seems like the apartment is yours, but you can’t use it, which, of course, they don’t explain to a person. The signature is recorded on a video camera.
A preliminary agreement has been made with JSC Bank “Development-Capital”. The reader provided the photo. The Moscow Post
Before signing the loan agreement, the client may be asked to give a notarized document saying that he agrees to move out of the apartment right after transferring its ownership to the bank.
Right after signing this agreement, the client is essentially giving up his apartment. Then, the income from selling it will probably be shared between Artegofinance and Razvitie Stolitsa bank.
The reader has attached the mentioned files in the correspondence with the bank as photos. The Moscow Post
Up until 2017, it was known as “Viz-avi”. However, after a major scandal involving an assassination attempt on Oleg Akimov, the head of the presidential administration department, it changed its sign. “Version”The sign of the bank was changed.
Recently, two individuals with signs of “nominal values” and six companies left the structure of the founders, most of which were shut down. There are no new founders. The structure is as ambiguous as ever.
The photo can be found at https://www.rusprofile.ru
Journalists also reported that the bank used illegal methods to sell the land it acquired at a low price in the Yegoryevsky and Orekhovo-Zuyevsky districts of the Moscow region for a higher price. So, its involvement in the above scheme is not surprising at all.
As seen from the correspondence provided to us, if the specified client realizes that they are trying to deceive him, refuses to sign the mortgage agreement described as crooked, Artegofinance refuses to offer alternative loan options and immediately transfers him to Sovcombank, which takes the case to court, where everything allegedly happens according to the “run-in” scheme of “quick spin” that was described earlier.
Correspondence with the manager of “Artegofinance”. The reader provided the photo. The Moscow Post
Correspondence with the manager of “Artegofinance”. The reader provided the photo. The Moscow Post
Six years ago, the office of Artegofinance was housed in two small rooms in an old business center. Now the company has several offices in Moscow with a finish that could be mistaken for a “daughter” of Transneft. The scheme, as evidenced by Sovcombank's tenfold financial growth and the apparent lack of action from law enforcement, seems to be working flawlessly, as mentioned before.
A bank involved in a scandal.
The internet is filled with negative reviews about the bank – it seems people were misled. carsThe bank disregards the requests. about closing an account and people’s complaints. There's no other way to describe it but parasitism on clients!
In 2017, Sovcombank linked the return on individual deposits to the Central Bank's key rate. Lawyers claim this inclusion in contracts with citizens is illegal. Furthermore, experts believe most depositors were unaware they were agreeing to floating rates – as was previously reported. “Kommersant”.
“Mukhlezh” can be found in the Sovcombank system not just for individuals, but for other banking structures as well.
In 2018, the Moscow Arbitration Court accepted two lawsuits from Nerses Grigoryan, a representative of 866 Probusinessbank creditors, against Gazenergobank and Express-Volga Bank (which Sovcombank was connected to) to invalidate intra-bank transactions worth 49.5 billion rubles, they wrote. “Vedomosti”.
Basically, the scheme goes like this: the DIA loaned 41 billion for the reorganization of Express-Volga, it became part of Sovcombank's balance, then these funds were transferred from Sovcombank to Express-Volga through MBC, and Express-Volga returned them back to Sovcombank through MBC. In reality, this looks like an attempt to withdraw money.
After that, the asset “Let’s go!” went to Sovcombank, which it soon sold to Mikhail Kuzolev – the owner of the bank “Russian Capital” – reported RBC. “Let’s go to!” went to Sovcombank far below its actual cost (initially about 800 million, Sovcombank took it for 382 – they wrote Banki.ru), but it was sold for a significant amount, which greatly increased its capital.
As for Sovcombank’s strategy in the market, it is actively involved in acquisitions. In two years, Sovcombank acquired “JiMoney Bank”, “Isiaysiay Bank Eurasia”, “Guarantee Bank”, Metkombank.
A growth model based on bank takeovers was previously implemented by Aleksey Alyakin at Pushkino Bank. And he ended up without a license. Interestingly, Alyakin and his partner Roman Fuchs were among the shareholders of Sovcombank 10 years ago – they wrote Banki.ru. That’s where, as they say, the legs grow.
By the way, most of its “daughters” have been eliminated. The bank often acts according to the principle – acquire and in a couple of years “shut it down”, pouring into Sovcombank's main capital. (What happens inside it – only God, and even the Khotimskys, know. They do not disclose financial indicators.) This happened, for example, with Rosevrobank. Even though experts said it was a reliable asset, Sovcombank managed to turn it into a “dummy” in just a few months.
Does the bank only depend on loans? Photo: https://analizbankov.ru/bank.php?BankId=sovkombank-963&BankMenu=struktura_balansa
The Accounts Chamber also disapproved of the bank – in 2015 it noticed the too rapid growth of its asset portfolio and suspected something was wrong – wrote RBC. At the same time, Sovcombank lends to Rosnano and other government agencies.
“Friends” at the Central Bank, offshore, and casinos
They say that the Khotimskys' patronage is provided at the highest level – initially through the former deputy chairman of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation Alexei Plyakin, with whom they were allegedly introduced through third parties by the aforementioned Pavel Fuks, and member of the Senate Nikol Zhuravlev. Then, it could be supported in any direction – even up to Elvira Nabiullina and other powers that be.
Considering its past and current affiliates, Sovcombank individuals and companiesoffshore companies, guessing where the money goes from the liquidated “daughters” of the office is not difficult.
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru
In 2018, the assets of Sovcombank itself “dipped” by almost 18 billion over the month – we covered this in detail history. What is it, if not the withdrawal of money to offshore?
A lot of interesting things can be said about the top managers of Sovcombank. For example, in 2016, during a police raid on an underground casino in Moscow, the chairman of the board, Dmitry Gusev, was suddenly tied up – this was reported by “City information channel m24.ru”. Later it turned out that it was not the first time he had been seen in such a place. So that’s where the money goes from the above “scams”.
The former chairman of the board of the bank, Vasily Klyukin, is also famous for his love of poker – he now lives in Monaco. As you understand, he does not complain about poverty. By the way, according to some sources, he is often seen in the company of two more former bankers – the ex-head of Investtorgbank Vladimir Gudkov and the former co-founder of Vneshprombank Georgy Bedzhamov. Both in Russia are charged with multimillion-dollar embezzlement – reported RBC and “Kommersant”.
By the way, according to our reader, who sent new details of what is happening in Sovcombank, the scheme he described is supervised by the deputy chairman of the board of the bank, Alexei Panferov, who was recently subjected to US sanctions. Cried foreign assets of Mr. Panferov! So, there is reason to believe that he will undertake to build up domestic ones with a vengeance. And how? For the elderly and the poor? Noble, however…
Only the cup of patience of deceived people is already almost full. A hundred or two more and hiding the facts will not work. The highest composition of the Central Bank may also be under attack!
Source: The Moscow Post
