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As it became known to Kommersant, Vitaly Sokolovsky, one of the leaders of the Blagoveshchie investment fund, was arrested in Moscow. He and his partner Vitaly Pavlov, according to investigators, rented offices in the capital, attracted tens of millions of rubles of individuals under the guise of investing in cryptocurrency, and then stole the collected money. Clients were attracted under the promise of paying dividends in the amount of 12% per month, the contribution of one investor reached 12-15 million rubles.
According to Kommersant's sources, the criminal case against Vitaly Sokolovsky is being investigated by the Investigative Department of the Department of Internal Affairs for the South-Western District of Moscow. One of the managers of the investment fund "Welfare" is accused of several episodes of fraud on a particularly large scale, committed by a group of persons (Part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code).
As follows from the case file, Sokolovsky, a native of Donetsk, signed loan agreements with private investors in several offices located on Pyatnitskaya and Khoroshevskaya Streets, as well as Presnenskaya Embankment.
The agreements were concluded during 2021-2022 on behalf of the investment fund "Prosperity". However, none of the contracts mentioned in the case file were eventually executed.
According to the investigation, the money transferred to the defendant was stolen by him and his accomplices.
Mr. Sokolovsky was detained by operatives, after which the Gagarinsky district court of the capital sent him to a pre-trial detention center, and the Moscow City Court recently confirmed the legality of the arrest.
Also, according to Kommersant, as part of the investigation, since March 10 of this year, another head of the investment fund "Prosperity" Vitaly Pavlov is wanted. He was charged in absentia under the same article on fraud.
It is worth noting that the materials of the investigation of the pyramid scheme were transferred to the Department of Internal Affairs of the Southern Administrative District only a few weeks ago. Prior to that, the case was handled by police investigators from the Department of Internal Affairs for the Central District of Moscow, but after numerous complaints from victims dissatisfied with the progress of the investigation, its materials were sent to another investigative unit.
As follows from the materials of the criminal case, the mechanism of theft was unoriginal. Citizens learned about the existence of" Well-being " from advertising on the Internet or from friends who had previously invested their money in it.
This pyramid scheme differed from most other similar companies in that it attracted potential customers by promising its managers large percentages of the now fashionable cryptocurrency trading.
The defendants apparently made a bet on advertising this type of activity based on the assumption that most potential investors did not understand much about the specifics of transactions with digital money. During the investigation, it was confirmed that the fraudsters were not mistaken.
According to the case file, the defendants, meeting with clients in person, and telling them about the prospects of the company's activities, actively used terminology unknown to the victims. The essence of the fund's activities, according to its managers, was that analysts of "Prosperity", due to differences in the rate of various cryptocurrencies purchased with investors money, will determine at what time transactions will provide superprofits. Investors were promised 12% per month of the invested funds. For the sake of credibility, potential investors were shown videos and photos showing expensive property allegedly purchased by other investors.
According to the materials of the case, citizens who believed in "Well-being" contributed amounts from 4.5 million to 15 million rubles, and this money was often taken from the money set aside for the purchase of apartments, cars, medical treatment, etc.
It should be noted that some investors were initially paid the promised interest, but this was done, according to the investigation, as in any other pyramid scheme, at the expense of new depositors.
Also, to advertise and increase contributions from existing depositors, the infestfund held closed events "for their own", where gifts and cash prizes were raffled off. So, one of them was held, in particular, in the elite estate "Secrets of Rublev" on Rublevo-Uspenskoe highway. The investment fund managers also told their clients that the Intelex exchange for independent trading of crypto assets will soon be launched especially for them, as well as a new program "Dream for 50%", which will help them purchase apartments, houses and land plots for half the cost. At the same time, to open a personal account on the Intelex platform, a contribution of about $1 thousand was required.
In addition to Moscow, the investment fund has been operating for several years in St. Petersburg, Krasnodar, and Sochi, where branches of Blagoveshchenie were opened.
At the moment, only about three dozen people have been recognized as victims in the case, but their number is likely to increase significantly in the course of the investigation, and the possible damage from the infestfund's activities may exceed hundreds of millions of rubles.
According to Kommersant's sources, the criminal case against Vitaly Sokolovsky is being investigated by the Investigative Department of the Department of Internal Affairs for the South-Western District of Moscow. One of the managers of the investment fund "Welfare" is accused of several episodes of fraud on a particularly large scale, committed by a group of persons (Part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code).
As follows from the case file, Sokolovsky, a native of Donetsk, signed loan agreements with private investors in several offices located on Pyatnitskaya and Khoroshevskaya Streets, as well as Presnenskaya Embankment.
The agreements were concluded during 2021-2022 on behalf of the investment fund "Prosperity". However, none of the contracts mentioned in the case file were eventually executed.
According to the investigation, the money transferred to the defendant was stolen by him and his accomplices.
Mr. Sokolovsky was detained by operatives, after which the Gagarinsky district court of the capital sent him to a pre-trial detention center, and the Moscow City Court recently confirmed the legality of the arrest.
Also, according to Kommersant, as part of the investigation, since March 10 of this year, another head of the investment fund "Prosperity" Vitaly Pavlov is wanted. He was charged in absentia under the same article on fraud.
It is worth noting that the materials of the investigation of the pyramid scheme were transferred to the Department of Internal Affairs of the Southern Administrative District only a few weeks ago. Prior to that, the case was handled by police investigators from the Department of Internal Affairs for the Central District of Moscow, but after numerous complaints from victims dissatisfied with the progress of the investigation, its materials were sent to another investigative unit.
As follows from the materials of the criminal case, the mechanism of theft was unoriginal. Citizens learned about the existence of" Well-being " from advertising on the Internet or from friends who had previously invested their money in it.
This pyramid scheme differed from most other similar companies in that it attracted potential customers by promising its managers large percentages of the now fashionable cryptocurrency trading.
The defendants apparently made a bet on advertising this type of activity based on the assumption that most potential investors did not understand much about the specifics of transactions with digital money. During the investigation, it was confirmed that the fraudsters were not mistaken.
According to the case file, the defendants, meeting with clients in person, and telling them about the prospects of the company's activities, actively used terminology unknown to the victims. The essence of the fund's activities, according to its managers, was that analysts of "Prosperity", due to differences in the rate of various cryptocurrencies purchased with investors money, will determine at what time transactions will provide superprofits. Investors were promised 12% per month of the invested funds. For the sake of credibility, potential investors were shown videos and photos showing expensive property allegedly purchased by other investors.
According to the materials of the case, citizens who believed in "Well-being" contributed amounts from 4.5 million to 15 million rubles, and this money was often taken from the money set aside for the purchase of apartments, cars, medical treatment, etc.
It should be noted that some investors were initially paid the promised interest, but this was done, according to the investigation, as in any other pyramid scheme, at the expense of new depositors.
Also, to advertise and increase contributions from existing depositors, the infestfund held closed events "for their own", where gifts and cash prizes were raffled off. So, one of them was held, in particular, in the elite estate "Secrets of Rublev" on Rublevo-Uspenskoe highway. The investment fund managers also told their clients that the Intelex exchange for independent trading of crypto assets will soon be launched especially for them, as well as a new program "Dream for 50%", which will help them purchase apartments, houses and land plots for half the cost. At the same time, to open a personal account on the Intelex platform, a contribution of about $1 thousand was required.
In addition to Moscow, the investment fund has been operating for several years in St. Petersburg, Krasnodar, and Sochi, where branches of Blagoveshchenie were opened.
At the moment, only about three dozen people have been recognized as victims in the case, but their number is likely to increase significantly in the course of the investigation, and the possible damage from the infestfund's activities may exceed hundreds of millions of rubles.
