Did they use a greenmail tactic against the Hatter?

Could entrepreneur Yakov Shlyapochnik, accused of taking funds from trusting clients, be involved in a possible attempt at a 'corporate raiding' in Mechel?

The Moscow Post correspondent reported that provisional measures were imposed on Mechel and its main shareholder Igor Zyuzin due to a lawsuit from the minority shareholder of Kuzbassenergosbyt, Advalor-Consult. Mechel sees this as an attempt to pressure Zyuzin to buy out his stake at a higher price.

Advalor-Consult, associated with Nord-Capital founded by businessman Yakov Shlyapochnik, faces criticism for potentially moving money from trusting partners to offshore accounts. This leads to questions about the source of the funds used for transactions.

The District Court of Nicosia imposed provisional measures on assets of Mechel and its shareholders, a move that seems related to the Hatter's foreign connections.

Provisional measures were imposed as part of a lawsuit by Advalor-Consult, which now owns 25% of Kuzbassenergosbyt, the majority of which is controlled by Mechel. The new shareholder estimates that intra-group transactions with Mechel companies have caused approximately 80 million euros in damages to the company.

In April-May 2021, Advalor-Consult filed several lawsuits totaling 7.1 billion rubles against Mechel structures, alleging unprofitable agreements and violations of transaction approval procedures. The Kemerovo arbitration court rejected claims for 5.3 billion rubles.

Advalor-Consult seems determined to continue, while Mechel views this as an attempt to pressure them into buying out a minority stake at a higher price, akin to greenmail. Experts suggest this could be seen as a form of corporate raiding, bordering on the edge of legality. Similar stories have been reported by The Moscow Post, including the situation around Schelkovo-Agrokhim.

Partner in crime

In such cases, a prominent figure is often seen behind the greenmail attempt, while less well-known individuals handle the operation. In this case, Artem Gerasimov and Sergey Tsibizov, who are not major businessmen, are connected to Advalor-Consult. The company they lead has no revenue or profit, and its assets are valued at negative 140 thousand rubles. The source of the funds used to enter the Mechel structure is in question.

Only Yakov the Hatter could give them money. The only company in the “Partners” column on the official website of “Advalor-Consult” is “Nord-Capital” founded by Yakov.

According to Rusprofile, Nord-Capital is now Algo Capital, owned by the Cypriot company Quant Infinity Holding Ltd. The company has always been connected to foreign companies, which have replaced each other as owners.

All these details suggest that someone might be trying to conceal some information. Businessman Andrey Smirnov, who filed a claim for 100 million rubles against the Nord-Capital investment group as a victim in a criminal case, believes that he was pulled into a basic financial scheme, as reported by TASS.

In 2012, Smirnov was offered to invest in an aggressive and balanced multi-strategy as a private investor with a return of 100% and 50%, respectively. Smirnov made a deal with the offshore company Nord Capital Financial Advisory Services Ltd. and transferred 60 million rubles first, and later another 40 million rubles through a transit account with Gazprombank.

Then he tried to withdraw his money from the company, but this request was denied, he was discouraged from withdrawing the money, and he was allegedly persuaded to personally meet with the chairman of the board of directors of Nord-Capital, Yakov Shlyapochnik, who insisted on an additional contribution from the investor of at least 500 thousand dollars.

Representatives of Smirnov suspect that this is why the company changed foreign owners so frequently, but in reality, the Hatter always stood behind it. This information was published on the Finanz.ru website.

For a long time, everything was peaceful in Nord-Capital. However, on August 1, 2014, searches began in the Moscow office of the company, as reported by Versiya. Even earlier, a criminal case was launched against unidentified individuals for large-scale fraud.

The case was initiated at the request of the affected investor Viktor Vorobyov. In 2013, he invested $1.5 million in Nord Capital (NC) Financial Advisory Services (British Virgin Islands) through Cypriot TUL Finance. Like Smirnov, Vorobyov attempted to withdraw the money, but NC Financial Advisory Services declined, citing the “negative effect on financial markets” caused by the US Federal Reserve’s programs. Could the Hatter be following a familiar pattern?

There are many similar stories involving Nord-Capital on the internet – however, they are published anonymously and on blogs. Perhaps the authors hope to reach a friendly agreement with the Hatter?

Didn’t stop at “achieved”?

Exactly one day before the 2014 searches, Nord Capital’s business in America was frozen. The National Futures Association (NFA) prohibited NC Advisors and the Hatter, its shareholder, from trading in the US market. They were not allowed to attract funds from clients for management, to make market transactions on all managed accounts, except for closing positions, or to spend or transfer any funds over which they have control without prior approval from the NFA.

But there is one caveat – according to unconfirmed information, the Hatter did not work directly with his clients. Allegedly, he signed an agreement with him on behalf of some offshore company, which was soon liquidated. And, they say, the rainbow figures of the reports in the electronic personal account of the client are falsification.

And in the implementation of dubious schemes, the Hatter could not be a novice at all. According to the authors of the Azbuka Kompromat portal, allegedly in the mid-2000s, the businessman took out loans from various banks, signing guarantees on behalf of the president of Rusagrocapital, although several months have passed since he left the company. Then, they say, the indignant bankers demanded the return of tens of millions issued under the “honest” word of the Hatter, to which he stated that his signature under the guarantees was forged.

What can I say, the Hatter looks like a really controversial figure, and his probable desire to stay “in the shadows” is understandable. But now its outlines are already very clearly looming in the situation with Mechel. So who decided to compete with Zyuzin?