BRC: Fraudsters and businessmen connected with the Belarusian authorities hid money in the Credit Suisse bank
Journalists of the Belarusian Investigative Center found among the clients of the Swiss bank Credit Suisse a former deputy of the House of Representatives, a fraudster from Belarus who was convicted twice and an entrepreneur close to the Belarusian authorities. According to the BRC, all of them may have used the secrecy of the Swiss banking system to hide assets.
The German publication Süddeutsche Zeitung shared the materials of the leak from the Swiss bank with the BRC as part of a joint project with OCCRP “Credit Suisse Secrets”.
The official income of the deputy Petr Kalugin was 15 times less than the amount in his Swiss account
On August 31, 2008, Petr Kalugin, then a member of the House of Representatives, arrived in Switzerland and immediately opened an account with Credit Suisse for an unnamed firm. A few months later, his deputy powers expired.
From 1992 to 2001, he was the general director of Belaruskali (the country’s largest producer of potash mineral fertilizers). But at the time of opening the account, he was not listed in any Belarusian company and held only a deputy position. However, in a year and seven months, almost $1.3 million will appear in this account.
Kalugin’s official income from 2003 to 2009 was about $87,000. This is 15 times less than the amount in his Swiss account.
Kalugin’s account received $1.3 million after a deal to build the Garlyk Mining and Processing Plant in Turkmenistan
When Kalugin managed Belaruskali, the Shakhtospetsstroy division separated from the enterprise. According to a BRC source, Valery Startsev became one of its key owners, and Kalugin actively supported this privatization. A year later, Kalugin left Belaruskali.
In 2009, having ceased to be a deputy, he began working at Shakhtospetsstroy, just on the eve of a big project.
In January 2010, Belarus agreed to build the Garlyk Mining and Processing Plant in Turkmenistan worth about $1 billion. The general contractor of the project, Belgorkhimprom, subcontracted Shakhtospetsstroy.
Two months later, $1.3 million appeared in Kalugin’s Swiss account. He closed his Credit Suisse account in 2014.
Entrepreneur Albert Laritsky probably took loans under false contracts for the modernization of the plant, but withdrew the money to a personal account at Credit Suisse
Investigators found two accounts with businessman Albert Laritsky at Credit Suisse. Both opened in early 2011.
Laritsky moved from Belarus to Russia and became vice president of the Zernostandart company. In 2008, the company bought out the shares of the Novovyatsky Ski Plant and soon began its modernization with the support of the Governor of the Kirov Region Nikita Belykh. The money for modernization (about $40 million) was allocated by an old acquaintance of Laritsky, an entrepreneur from Germany, Yuri Zudheimer.
However, the project failed, and the company was mired in debt. Zudheimer turned to the FSB in the hope of returning the money, and in 2015 Laritsky was detained on suspicion of financial fraud. The investigation believes that, under false contracts, he took loans from the Russian Sberbank for the purchase of equipment for the modernization of the plant, but withdrew the money received to his personal account at Credit Suisse.
In May 2011, he had about $3 million in his account. The maximum amount on the second account is approximately 275 thousand dollars in March 2014. However, according to the investigation, as a result of financial fraud, Laritsky stole a much larger amount – about $ 10 million. At the trial, he fully admitted his guilt. Recently, Laritsky was released and told the BRTs that Russian investigators forced him to incriminate himself.
Laritsky considers his case fabricated in order to imprison the then governor of the Kirov region Nikita Belykh
The then governor of the Kirov region, Nikita Belykh, was detained in 2016 while receiving a bribe for “protection of the Novovyatsky ski plant.” According to investigators, Laritsky gave Belykh 200,000 euros in 2011-2012, and Zudheimer – 400,000 euros in 2014-2016.
Before becoming governor in 2009, Nikita Belykh led the Union of Right Forces, which was co-founded by Boris Nemtsov. After the appointment, he hired Alexei Navalny as his adviser.
Transparency International suggests that the security forces may have used Laritsky and Zudheimer in the Belykh case as a “torpedo” – a person who is sent to brib an official as part of an operational experiment.
As a result, the court sentenced Laritsky to three years in prison, and Belykh to eight years, and he is still serving his sentence. At the same time, Zudheimer was not charged, although Belykh was found guilty of taking a bribe from him, and was acquitted in the episode with Laritsky.
Belarusian businessman Aleksey Oleksin’s account with Credit Suisse exceeded $36 million
According to the BRC journalists, in January 2012 Belarusian businessman Aleksey Oleksin opened an account with Credit Suisse. It had over $36 million in July.
At the same time, Lithuanian businessman Vitold Tomashevsky cooperated with Credit Suisse – he opened an account for the Savoil company, registered in Singapore.
In 2011-2012, Russia supplied oil and oil products to Belarus without customs duties. They had to be paid only if Belarus sold oil products from Russian oil for export. However, there were a number of goods that were not subject to duties in this case, such as solvents and thinners. Then, under their guise, Belarusian entrepreneurs began to resell other Russian oil products.
Many European companies participated in this scheme, but, according to a BRC source, the bulk of supplies went through Tomashevsky’s Savoil in Singapore.
In two years, the solvent and thinner scheme brought in more than $80 million in profits for partner Oleksin’s company.
For five months of work in 2011, the revenue of Witold Tomaszewski’s Savoil company exceeded $800 million, and in 2012 it approached $5 billion. In just two years, Savoil generated over $80 million in net profit.
Witold Tomashevsky is a longtime partner of Belarusian businessman Yury Chyzh. The authors of the investigation call them the main joint project – the resale of Russian oil products under the guise of solvents and thinners. The BRC, together with the Lithuanian investigative center Siena, found out that on the Belarusian side, Triple company Yuri Chizh and two other companies associated with businessman Aleksey Oleksin participated in the scam. Oleksin was working for Chizh at the time, and he is credited with the idea of the solvent and thinner scheme. And he opened an account with Credit Suisse at the very height of the scheme.
In 2012, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev publicly accused the Belarusian leadership of smuggling oil products. Russia estimated the damage at 1.5 billion dollars, and the supply of raw materials for solvents ceased.
Two years later, Oleksin closed his account with Credit Suisse.
