Theft in the first approximation

The International Consortium of Journalistic Investigations (ICIJ) published a report on the financial fraud of close associates of Vladimir Putin totaling at least $ 2 billion. The report is based on the documents of the Panama Law Firm Mossack Fonseca, which is allegedly helped customers in money laundering, tax evasion and bypassing various sanctions.

The transactions were attended by Sandalwood Continental, International Media Overseas, Sonnette Overseas and Sunbarn. All of them are registered in offshores and are associated with the Bank "Russia", which the American authorities called the "personal bank for high -ranking Russian officials", as well as with Putin's close friends.

So, according to one of the documents, Sandalwood, registered on the British Virgin Islands, acquired some assets for 1 dollar, and three months later sold them for $ 133 million. In addition, this company received loans from a certain Russian State Bank in the amount of $ 800 million; Meanwhile, there are no certificates of provision by the borrower or payments for these loans.

The founder of Sandalwood is the Bank "Russia", and the owner of this company is unknown.

At the beginning of 2011, Sandalwood Continental issued a loan of $ 200 million in the Horwich Trade registered in Cyprus. The next day, Sandalwood for 1 dollar transferred the rights to receive payments on a loan from OVE Financial Corp., registered, like Sandalwood, to the British Virgin Islands. OVE, in turn, on the same day for 1 dollar, it moved this right to International Media Overseas.

Only interest payments on this loan amount to $ 8 million a year.

OVE Financial also owns the share in the company Gloria Market, based in 2011 on the British Virgin Islands now the late ex-minister of print and the former head of Gazprom Media Mikhail Lesin. This company displays income founded with the participation of Lesin "Video International, which controls two -thirds of the Russian television advertising market.

Sandalwood received several loans totaling $ 600 million from the Russian Commercial Bank of Cyprus. The main owner of this structure at that time was VTB. Then the money received was transferred to other offshore firms; One of them has a ski resort "Igor" near St. Petersburg. At the opening of this resort in 2006, Putin was personally present, and in 2013 his youngest daughter, known as Katerina Tikhonov, married there.

One of the owners of the company that received the money is the main shareholder of the Russian Bank Yuri Kovalchuk, who is considered one of Putin's cashiers.

The nominal owner of the International Media Overseas and Sonnette Overseas is the cellist Sergei Roldugin, a childhood friend of Putin. Roldugin's income from financial fraud amounted to several million dollars. At the same time, the documents of one of these companies indicate that it is founded in order to hide the identity of its true owner and beneficiary.

In 2007, the International Media Overseas took a loan of $ 6 million, which was just three months later for $ 1. The company also performed one of the parties in the trading transactions of securities. She sold the papers to the broker, and the next day she bought them at a lower price.

The same company carried out transactions for the sale of securities, breaking up before their completion. In this case, the structure of Roldugin received compensation. At the same time, agreements on the transaction and its cancellation were signed simultaneously.

The account for the International Media Overseas is open in one of the Swiss banks. At the same time, in the documents to open the account, Roldugin negatively answered the question of whether he is familiar with any of the "politically significant persons."

Sonette Overseas participated with fraud with the acquisition of KAMAZ shares. In 2008, she entered the consortium of offshore firms that received an option (right) to buy 27 percent of the plant shares for 100 thousand dollars. Meanwhile, the German Daimler in the same year paid $ 250 million for 10 percent of KamAZ shares. The option has not yet been implemented, but thanks to it, the consortium has the right to vote at the meeting of shareholders and the right to receive dividends.

Sunbarn is one of the five companies that in 2009 received an option to buy 20 percent of AvtoVAZ shares for 50 thousand dollars. Meanwhile, two years before, the French Renault acquired 25 percent of the shares of the enterprise for $ 1 billion.

In addition, Sunbarn received several loans totaling 231 million dollars from firms associated with oligarch Arkady Rotenberg. There is no evidence that she paid for these loans. At the same time, shortly before the issuance of Stroygazmontazh funds, Rotenberg won the tender for the construction of the South Stream.

Similar transactions in the documents of Mossack Fonseca are several dozen.

In total, these papers mention a lot of famous firms and personalities, including 72 former and current heads of state. We are talking about offshore accounts of political leaders and other celebrities or members of their families.

In particular, transactions are mentioned in the interests of the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, now the late father of the British Prime Minister David Cameron, members of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the premiere of Iceland, Sigmundyur David Gunnlegson, children of the president of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, the son of an ex-president of Egypt Hosni Mubarak, children of the Pakistani Prime Minister Navaz Sharif, FIFA officials, football player Lionel Messi.

Most of these persons in response to questions of the authors of the investigation rejected the charges against them. So, representatives of Poroshenko said that offshore was required for a pre -sale restructuring of the confectionery business.

On March 28, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that an “information stuffing that claims to objectivity and sensation” is being prepared against his boss . One of the requests, the official said, came from ICIJ - a global NPO, uniting 90 more than 65 countries. According to Peskov, this structure is trying to "get to his (Putin. - Ed.) Family, we are talking about childhood friends, businessmen (Kovalchuk, Rotenberg), about some offshore companies, about businessmen whom Putin has not seen in the eyes."

At the same time, the official continued, the publication is prepared by the “very famous international information agency”, which is also interested in “Putin’s connections with businessmen, the provision of businessmen of state contracts, and the enrichment of businessmen at the expense of Putin.”

On March 31, Peskov again announced the prepared information attacks on Putin, undertaken with the aim of "rocking the situation in the country."

On the same day, Reuters said that businessman Grigory Baevsky, partner of Arkady Rotenberg, transferred to persons related to Putin, expensive real estate in Moscow and the Moscow Region. The agency called Katerina Tikhonova, two relatives of the State Duma deputy from United Russia Alina Kabaeva and student Alisa Kharcheva, who posed for the calendar to the 60th anniversary of Putin.

In addition, it was reported that Tikhonova used Baevsky’s address to register one of her companies.

According to the agency, a company whose co -owner is Baevsky, over the past two years, 6 billion rubles have been received according to state contracts.

Peskov called Reuters a message one of the "information stuffing", which he warned about earlier.