2022-01-19 Kommerssant - London Hides a Guest from the "City of Capitals" - QBF Group's beneficiary, Roman Shpakov, is being sought worldwide. By Oleg Rubnikovich,

London Hides a Guest from the "City of Capitals" - QBF Group's beneficiary, Roman Shpakov, is being sought worldwide.

By Oleg Rubnikovich, 19.01.2022, 00:43

As "Ъ" has learned, the name of the QBF financial group's beneficiary, Roman Shpakov, has appeared in Interpol's international database of wanted persons. Investigators believe he is the mastermind behind a pyramid scheme that, under the guise of investing depositors' money into serious financial portfolios, could have stolen about 5-7 billion rubles from them. Before the criminal case was initiated, Mr. Shpakov had moved to the United Arab Emirates, and since last October, he has allegedly settled in London.

Roman Shpakov becomes an international fugitive

33-year-old Roman Shpakov, the beneficiary of the investment company QBF, became a defendant in a criminal case regarding large-scale fraud (Part 4, Article 159 of the Russian Criminal Code) at the end of May 2021. At that time, as part of a large-scale special operation involving the Main Directorate for Economic Security and Corruption Control of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Moscow Federal Security Service, and special forces, over 30 searches were conducted in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, including at QBF's main office, which occupied several floors in the "City of Capitals" complex in "Moscow City" (Presnenskaya Embankment, 8, Building 1).

The first to be detained by operatives were 30-year-old co-founder of QBF LLC, who previously headed the company's Cypriot branch, Zelimkhan Munaev, and 47-year-old lawyer of this structure, Evgeniya Rossieva. Both were sent to pre-trial detention by the Tverskoy District Court of Moscow upon the request of the investigative department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Another defendant, the company's branch network director Vladimir Pakhomov, was placed under house arrest. By that time, Roman Shpakov was already abroad, having relocated as soon as he learned of law enforcement's interest in his project.

On September 27th last year, the same Tverskoy District Court sanctioned the in-absentia arrest of the alleged organizer of the multi-billion scam. Recently, Roman Shpakov's name appeared in Interpol's international wanted persons database. It's worth noting that until recently, the founder of QBF, according to "Ъ", lived in the UAE. However, shortly after the in-absentia arrest, he moved to London, where he allegedly owns property.

It seems that the businessman is hoping that, unlike the Emirates, if he is arrested in the UK, the country initiating the search won't extradite him.

As "Ъ" has previously reported, during the investigation, it was established that citizens' funds were attracted by the company under the guise of investing in serious financial portfolios in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Sverdlovsk, Tyumen, Murmansk regions, as well as Bashkiria and Tatarstan.

QBF managers lured clients with the opportunity to earn around 20% from investments. To maintain the company's reputation, some clients were indeed paid dividends, but exclusively from the funds of subsequent depositors. Almost all those who trusted Roman Shpakov's team were convinced that their money was working and generating profit, as the managers sent them fictitious monthly and quarterly reports via email.

Investors' problems began when they tried to withdraw their money from QBF. Clients were denied under various pretexts, and when the arguments ran out, they simply stopped answering phone calls.

Investigators found that all investors' funds ended up in the accounts of companies QCCI LTD (Cyprus), Simtelligence (Hong Kong), and White Lake ltd (Cayman Islands), from where they were later transferred to other non-resident companies affiliated with the group members. The alleged organizers of the pyramid scheme used these funds at their discretion, investing in the purchase of expensive cars, real estate, stocks, etc.

In total, investigators believe that the pyramid's organizers could have stolen around 5-7 billion rubles.

Such a range of figures might be due to the fact that among QBF's clients, there were many VIPs, including clergy, generals, ministers, and directors of various large state and commercial structures. Some gave the alleged fraudsters 200-300 million rubles, while others gave up to 1 billion rubles. However, for various reasons, they not only don't want to publicize their losses but also refuse the status of victims.

So far, the only celebrity known to have been affected in this case is the famous ballerina Anastasia Volochkova. Of the 3 million rubles she invested in QBF, the company still owes her 1.7 million rubles.

Note that QBF LLC ceased its operations on July 8, 2021, after its license was revoked by the regulator. By that time, some clients tried to get their money back through civil litigation. However, as practice shows, this proved to be quite problematic. For example, the CEO of a large online store specializing in the sale of IT and network equipment failed to win his case.

In March 2021, even before the criminal case was initiated, the businessman tried to claim over $550,000 from the defendants, including Roman Shpakov, in the Presnensky District Court of the capital. "During the case review, no evidence was found of the plaintiff transferring funds to any of the defendants," the court decision states. Yesterday, this decision was upheld by the appellate instance.

Oleg Rubnikovich