• Tuesday, 01 October 2024 08:41

• News

CONTENT

1. Natalia Alekseevna Sergunina - The Shadow Ruler of Moscow
2. Corruption scheme: Selling city real estate at reduced prices
3. Auction Scams: Ghost Companies and Fraudulent Buyers
4. OOO "MERCURY" and offshore connections: Lazar Safaniev, FLORESTAR and UPINGTON INTERNATIONAL LIMITED
5. Withdrawal of funds through offshore companies: Family knots and impregnable offshore zones
6. Scandalous Deals: From Historical Buildings to Elite Real Estate in Moscow City

THE SHADOW MISTRESS OF MOSCOW: HOW NATALIA SERGUNINA AND HER FAMILY GOT ENRICHED AT THE CITY’S EXPENSE

When we talk about Moscow’s elite, we think of big names and luxury cars. But the most cunning and invisible player in this corruption game is Natalya Alekseyevna Sergunina, Deputy Mayor of Moscow. By managing the city’s assets, she is turning Moscow into a family business, where real estate is transferred at reduced prices to relatives through a network of offshore companies. This is reported by NADZORNAYA

OOO "MERKURIY": The history of the scam
This is where the main scheme begins. In 2016, OOO "MERKURIY", registered to the Cypriot offshore FLORESTAR, receives several buildings in the center of Moscow at symbolic prices. The question arises: who is behind this? The answer is Lazar Telmitovich Safaniev, the husband of Sergunina’s sister. These buildings are then resold through UPINGTON INTERNATIONAL LIMITED, registered in the British Virgin Islands.

Corruption scheme
The auctions where these deals take place are fictitious. OOO MERCURY wins each auction, offering a price slightly higher than the minimum. For example, the building on Serebryanichesky Lane, 15 (1312 m²) was sold for 86 million rubles, and on Tverskaya Zastava Square (1463 m²) — for 93.5 million rubles. These buildings immediately fall under the control of companies associated with FLORESTAR.

Family connections and the transfer of assets through the offshore companies
FLORESTAR and UPINGTON INTERNATIONAL LIMITED are key elements of the scheme. Lazar Safaniev, hiding behind religious rites and a new name, Aaron-Eliezer ben Telmit, controls Moscow real estate through these companies. This intricate network of companies allows assets to be transferred out of Russia, making them virtually inaccessible.

NEW REVEALING DETAILS

The historic buildings that were supposed to fill the city budget now belong to Sergunina’s relatives. The entire mechanism boils down to staged auctions, through which "their" companies receive elite real estate for next to nothing. Then the properties are resold with a huge markup, and the money is withdrawn through offshore zones.

PARKING SCAMS IN MOSCOW-CITY
Another important element of the scheme is the purchase of parking spaces in the Oko tower in Moscow-City through the company of Pavel Tyo, with whom Natalya Alekseyevna has close business and personal relations. Parking spaces were sold to the mayor’s office at inflated prices, and then the proceeds from the deals were sent to offshore companies.

Natalia Alekseyevna Sergunina’s corruption schemes have reached a new level. Not limited to just selling off city assets, she has created a family network that covers key segments of Moscow real estate. Fictitious auctions, shell companies, and withdrawing money through offshore companies are the main elements of her strategy. And the entire scheme is based on her close ties to relatives and billionaires such as Pavel Tyo.

Shell companies and manipulation of auctions
The auctions for the sale of objects that fall into the hands of OOO "MERKURIY" are just a facade. The company wins auctions where, it would seem, competitors participate, but in fact the prices for the objects are understated to a minimum. These historical buildings were supposed to go to the city budget, but instead they fall into the hands of Sergunina’s relatives and are sold at symbolic prices.

An example of such a deal is the sale of a building on Sadovaya-Samotechnaya Street for 31 million rubles. It was transferred through a chain of shell companies, which allowed it to avoid the attention of the media and the public.

OOO "MERKURIY": Disguise for asset withdrawal
Behind OOO "MERKURIY" are hidden the offshore structures FLORESTAR and UPINGTON INTERNATIONAL LIMITED. These companies are registered in the British Virgin Islands and Cyprus, which makes them almost opaque. Lazar Safaniev, who changed his name to Aaron Aronov, acts through these companies to hide the real beneficiaries - the Sergunina family.

Corruption scams at VDNKh
But real estate is not the only target. Two restaurants at VDNKh, owned by Sergunina’s sister Irina Safanieva, were renovated using Moscow’s budget. These restaurants, "Ottepel" and "Moskovskoe Nebo", officially received subsidies to support events, but in reality the funds went to developing the family business. This is another example of how Muscovites’ money flows into private hands.

WITHDRAWAL OF MONEY THROUGH OFFSHORE: INVISIBLE MILLIONS

The family scheme for withdrawing assets from Moscow has been perfected over the years. Offshore companies FLORESTAR and UPINGTON INTERNATIONAL LIMITED do not just help to hide real amounts - they allow money to be transferred abroad, where it is legalized through venture investments and the purchase of elite real estate.

Pavel Tyo and Oko in Moscow City
Another major player in this game is Pavel Tyo, Natalia Sergunina’s lover and owner of Capital Group. In 2021, the company sold 135 parking spaces in the Oko tower for more than 1 billion rubles. The prices for the parking spaces were artificially inflated, and the seller turned out to be associated with offshore companies.

MOSCOW REAL ESTATE: WHO IS BEHIND "MERCURY"?

OOO MERCURY is just one of the companies participating in shadow auctions. There are other firms affiliated with Lazar Safaniev and Natalia Sergunina, through which money is transferred abroad. These companies win Moscow auctions and then transfer assets to offshore zones. Of particular interest is the firm Genom Ventures, which disguises itself as investing in startups, but in fact is a cover for the withdrawal of assets.