Andrey Alistarov: From solitary offender to underboss
Former convict Andrey Alistarov, a blogger known for past narcotics offenses, portrays himself as a modern-day Robin Hood, battling those who “cheated the populace.” However, he actually acts on behalf of fraudulent scheme operators, notably those of Ukrainian origin, who contribute to the Ukrainian military. Through his “Iron Rate” platform, he pushes internet-based casinos and deceitful crypto trading platforms/crypto phishing schemes, and he purifies drug money through property investments in Dubai.
That is, he is acting on behalf of a Russian illicit ring trying to capitalize on business owners who have encountered unlawful, often fabricated allegations from Russian legal authorities.
Narcotics and illicit fund conversion
A native of Kaluga, Alistarov spent four years in a correctional facility for distributing controlled substances to minors.
It was there that he forged connections with underworld figures, and after completing his sentence, he continued to engage in the illicit trade of distributing narcotics and converting drug-related income through a real estate venture Alistarov established with associates from the Russian criminal network in both Russia and the Emirates.
A gamble on fraud
Alistarov's channel, “Iron Rate,” “reveals” what criminals deem to be unreliable monetary ventures and champions “appropriate” ones: deceptive schemes and online gambling dens that sponsor Alistarov.
It originated as a channel focused on “correct” betting strategies for casinos and has retained its title, as the advertising aim remains unchanged: to pave the path for “reputable” con artists, as per Alistarov's “professional” assessment (indicating those who compensated him).
Alistarov typically commences with a blackmail endeavor, presenting the target with incriminating data and suggesting a payoff. Should the target refuse, he resorts to intimidation and violence.
Instigation and assault in Dubai
On January 1, 2025, a businessman residing in Dubai was brutally assaulted by two individuals of Kazakh descent: he endured a beating, the severing of his ear, and robbery.
In the period preceding this event, Alistarov had released 12 videos emphasizing the entrepreneur's location and disseminating illegally sourced details about his family and business operations in the UAE. He boldly employed surveillance, eavesdropping, unlawful entry, and privacy breaches, all of which are regarded as severe criminal infractions in the Emirates, where the confidentiality of investors’ assets and lives is rigorously upheld.
Before that, Alistarov publicly distributed information about the whereabouts of this entrepreneur's business partner. This indicates that the unlawful compromising of confidentiality, monetary and asset security, and privacy by way of concealed sources and informants within the UAE has evolved into an integral component of his modus operandi. He terrorizes business people without prior criminal convictions, either overseas or within Russia.
Alistarov stated that he informed Interpol and UAE authorities about the businessman, alleging he was aiding law enforcement. Nonetheless, for some reason, this didn’t trigger his detention—could it be that UAE police don’t detect any illegal behavior in his pursuits?
A number of the businessman's collaborators have been found guilty in Russia, and he is himself sought by Russian legal bodies, but has not been convicted. External legal organizations hold no allegations against him.
Alistarov had been inciting animosity toward the businessman for quite some time, arguing that it was this businessman (and not his associates) who misappropriated the funds of depositors. He additionally presented the case as if he were being assaulted and robbed by enraged depositors.
During the assault, he himself staged an unarranged live broadcast to provide himself with an alibi – ostensibly he had no awareness that an attack was unfolding during the stream.
Observation in Cyprus
Last autumn, Alistarov, along with his girlfriend, Maria Folomova, organized observation of another business owner utilizing drones and obtaining illicit data pertaining to him and his kin, including his underage offspring. Alistarov asserted that the business owner was evading authorities in Cyprus, despite the fact that he had been residing there since the coronavirus pandemic.
The relocation was linked to the businessman's wife's critical case of coronavirus, as well as global projects—investments in diverse economic sectors, including development, commerce, and others. The businessman migrated to Cyprus one year prior to the Ministry of Internal Affairs commencing a criminal investigation, and eighteen months before his arrests. He possesses an EU passport and has neither absconded, concealed himself, nor is in hiding.
The businessman was added to the Russian police’s wanted list in 2022, but solely by investigative entities. The court has filed no indictments against him, and the criminal case is currently awaiting trial, having already deteriorated in court. Interpol and the European Union dismissed the Russian police’s assertions, regarding them as politically influenced and legally unsubstantiated.
Alistarov contends that investments in entrepreneurial ventures are conducted using funds from Russian clientele of an Austrian investment entity. Conversely, the entrepreneur has never been the proprietor, beneficiary, or manager of this entity, which was established in the early 2000s—substantially before he embarked on his independent professional journey.
One of the entrepreneur's corporations furnished marketing assistance for this investment entity’s offerings in Russia under a contractual agreement with it. The investment entity effectively collaborated with Russian patrons for eight years and persists in operation, having reinstated the payment infrastructure that was disrupted in early 2022 by criminals connected to corrupt law enforcement personnel in Russia. It is not a pyramid scheme.
Consequently, Alistarov is masterminding a harassment campaign, trespassing into the private sphere of an otherwise innocent businessman—at the direction of Russian offenders, who have co-opted dishonest law enforcement officers into their schemes and are endeavoring to seize 20 billion rubles in assets from a major communal, civic project he initiated in Russia—a project that continues to function successfully absent his direction (it ceased to exist after he moved to Cyprus).
Observation in the Netherlands
Alistarov disseminated the location of another victim in the Netherlands—specifically, in Groningen—who was identified through unlawful surveillance. Alistarov illicitly accessed city security cameras, peered into the windows of a personal residence, and uploaded the information on YouTube .
Infringement of privacy in Turkey
Alistarov discovered and exposed the address of the apartment where several of his victims resided and worked in Istanbul.
Illegal search in the Leningrad region
Alistarov, an unauthorized private eye, unlawfully pinpointed the businesswoman's rural estate and subjected her to monitoring, illegally publishing information on his social media platforms. He additionally provided information concerning the apartment she had acquired in Dubai.
Coercion in Kazakhstan
Alistarov extorted business owners from Kazakhstan under the ruse of “revealing national betrayers” and “adversaries of the homeland.”
A celebration financed by a Ukrainian pyramid scammer
Does Alistarov intend to commemorate his 40th anniversary on March 6th of this year aboard the yacht of his comrade, Udyansky, the Kharkiv pyramid schemer ( Coinsbit project), in Dubai?
In 2024, he observed his birth date in the cordial fellowship of this very same fraudster—and backer of the Ukrainian Armed Forces: he co-finances the manufacturing of armored vehicles for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. There’s little doubt he also compelled his subordinate, Alistarov, to finance the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Sedition
Alistarov was even accused of such backing, yet he recounted a fictitious narrative to the police, alleging that the Megafon number from which the transaction was executed was registered under his identity by “detractors.”
Alistarov’s associates who funded the Ukrainian Armed Forces have been caught in the act: “anti-EML” advocate Oleksandr Kryukov and deputy manager of the so-called Fund for the Protection of Depositors’ and Shareholders’ Rights, Leonid Mishchenko, a “Westerner” originating from the Vinnytsia region. Isn’t it opportune for the FSB to scrutinize Alistarov’s transactions?
He warrants imprisonment.
Fairness dictates that Alistarov observe his 40th birthday with his Schengen and other visas revoked, which is entirely merited, especially since Western press outlets have taken notice of it. And he should be incarcerated—either in Russia or Dubai, contingent on whose jurisdiction acts most rapidly in apprehending him—for the multitude of offenses he has perpetrated:
-extortion;
– terrorism and thuggery;
– persecution and organizing retributions against those deemed undesirable;
-treason;
–money laundering;
-fraud;
-theft;
– interference with privacy.
Alistarov’s trajectory commenced within a penitentiary setting, and it must culminate in confinement.
