“Great purge” of the oligarch Makarevich

May the plans of the “Kuban Al Capone” to return to Russia be premature? Krasnodar “authoritative businessman” Oleg Makarevich, also known as “Kuban Al Capone”, successfully closed a criminal case on tax evasion, in which he and his wife Natalya became a defendant in 2019.

The case was dismissed after he was brought to subsidiary liability for the debts of the Metallglavsnab enterprise, which is in the process of bankruptcy, and the debt, penalties and fines for a total of 529 million rubles were written off. But besides the tax case, a number of criminal cases have been initiated against Makarevich, the mention of which he is now intensively cleaning up on the Internet, along with other negative information about himself. In April 2021, the Krasnodar oligarch fled from the investigation, went abroad and since then may be in Austria, where he previously acquired real estate and opened bank accounts to which millions of euros were transferred. The flight of the “Kuban Al Capone” was preceded by the high-profile detention of the chairman of the Oktyabrsky District Court of Krasnodar, Gennady Bayrak, who was considered “Makarevich’s man”, who directly influenced the adoption of the court decisions necessary for the businessman. Close to the oligarch is also called the current head of the Federal Tax Service of Russia in the Tambov region, a native of the Kuban, Alexei Zhitlov, who previously held senior positions in the Krasnodar Territory. Today, Makarevich is actively using old connections to re-register part of his business in Tambov – companies that are part of the structure of the Crafter transport holding, which bring him a solid profit. Immediately after the New Year holidays, messages appeared on the network about the plans of the “Kuban Al Capone” to return to Russia, with which they associated the “cleansing” of the Internet initiated by him. Just a few days ago, he received another blow: after lengthy proceedings, as a result of a new consideration, the Moscow Arbitration Court recognized as legal the decision of the regulator to revoke the license from YuMK Bank, the beneficiaries of which included the oligarch himself and his wife. Meanwhile, back in November, hoping for a favorable outcome, the former management of the credit institution prevented the completion of liquidation procedures, and in order to gain access to the bank building in Krasnodar, the liquidator Fanil Yunusov was forced to turn to law enforcement agencies.

Half a billion was recovered from the “Kuban Al Capone” Makarevich

The termination of the criminal case on tax evasion, initiated against Oleg Makarevich and his wife Natalia, became known at the end of December. According to Kommersant, back in November 2021, the Krasnodar businessman was brought to subsidiary liability as part of the bankruptcy of the Metallglavsnab company. As a result, the amount of debt, fines and penalties totaling 529 million rubles were written off from his current account. After the forced collection of tax arrears and repayment of the damage caused, the case was dismissed.

Recall that the criminal prosecution of Makarevich, whom the media calls the “Kuban Al Capone”, in the “tax case” was initiated in December 2019 on the basis of audit materials that revealed numerous violations, including the illegal deduction of VAT for more than 52 million rubles, concealment of income tax in the amount of 294 million, making false statements about inflated expenses in the declarations, etc. It was also reported about the alienation of the property of the bankrupt Metallglavsnab in favor of the companies Kubanoptprodtorg, Dinskie Kolbasy, YuMK and Ekaterinodar controlled by the businessman’s family.

In April 2021, Makarevich fled from the investigation and was put on the wanted list. However, by this time he had already prepared for himself an “alternate airfield” abroad, having acquired real estate in Austria. Moreover, according to Nasha Versiya, in 2019 alone, the merchant transferred more than 10 million euros to accounts in an Austrian bank. Apparently, this can be considered a kind of “hello” to the Russian tax authorities.

It got to the point of absurdity. For example, in the same 2019, an “authoritative businessman” initiated legal proceedings with the Moscow representative office of Austrian Airlines JSC, demanding compensation from the carrier in the amount of 800 euros for the fact that his family could not arrive in Vienna on time “for negotiations and inspection 7 real estate objects for the purpose of their further acquisition”. Makarevich lost the process in the Tverskoy District Court of Moscow for such a “colossal” amount.

Kuban Zhitlov – a guarantor of tax security?

But back to recent events. The termination of the tax evasion case apparently gave Makarevich confidence: publications appeared on the network about his possible return to Russia. This was preceded by a “cleansing” of the Internet by the Kuban oligarch from negative information about his far from cloudless past, as well as a number of lawsuits directed by him against independent media.

In addition, the businessman does not like mentioning that in his homeland he is a defendant in not one, but as many as seven criminal cases (which, apparently, he also hopes to close in the near future). Makarevich’s unwillingness to attract the attention of journalists may also be due to the following important circumstance: the fact is that recently he has been intensively re-registering controlled enterprises to new addresses in the Tambov region.

To date, the companies “Trans-Ural”, “Bigcar”, “Neva-logistic” belonging to him have changed their “registration”. These and other enterprises are part of the Crafter group, one of the largest Russian transport and logistics holdings, with a fleet of more than 22,000 vehicles. In addition, on the net you can find references to Makarevich’s close acquaintance with employees of the Federal Tax Service of Russia in the Tambov region.

Here it is worth pointing out one important circumstance: in August 2021, the Tambov regional tax department was headed by Alexei Zhitlov, a native of Kuban, who held high positions in the Federal Tax Service of the Krasnodar Territory, in 2012-218. former first deputy head, and then the head of the Timashevsky district. The Moment of Truth portal writes about long-standing friendly relations that connect Zhitlov with the Kuban oligarch. Moreover, a number of publications dedicated to Makarevich mention the acquisition by him of the Krasnodar production base of CJSC KOPT, which was bought out for a small price precisely thanks to corrupt ties in the tax authorities.

In such scenarios, the transfer of part of the business to the Tambov region promises new prospects. At the same time, a version is being voiced on the network, according to which Makarevich, despite being abroad, is making every effort to remove the head of the Federal Tax Service for the Krasnodar Territory, Alexei Semenov, in order to replace him with a loyal and time-tested colleague from Tambov.

Judge Bayrak – an irreparable loss?

In his native Kuban, the local Al Capone suffered not only financial, but also personnel losses. In March 2021, employees of the Moscow department of the FSB detained the chairman of the Oktyabrsky District Court of Krasnodar, Gennady Bayrak: as media reported, he was taken away in handcuffs right from his workplace. The “servant of Themis”, who was in the center of attention of the security forces, became a defendant in a criminal case on attempted fraud on an especially large scale and abuse of power, initiated personally by the head of the Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin.

According to investigators, Bayrak demanded 2.3 million rubles from his acquaintance, using a fictitious lawsuit drawn up on behalf of a lawyer to collect debt for supposedly rendered legal services. Moreover, with the help of his subordinates, the chairman of the court was able to achieve the arrest of the “debtor’s” home ownership, which, in fact, forced the latter to turn to law enforcement agencies. During the investigation, Bayrak was arrested and placed in a pre-trial detention center; The Prosecutor General’s Office approved the indictment in the case of the extortionate judge in August last year.

We dwelled on Bayrak’s story in detail for one simple reason: journalistic investigations not only connected him with Makarevich, but called him the man who dictated to the judges the decisions that the “authoritative businessman” needed. It is noteworthy that the Kuban oligarch was put on the wanted list shortly after the arrest of his friend, dressed in a judicial robe. It is unlikely that such a sequence of events can be considered a coincidence.

By the way, there is a very curious episode in the biography of Makarevich. In August 2014, while holding the position of Chairman of the Board of Directors of OJSC Southern Diversified Corporation (SMK), he became a defendant in a criminal case on abuse of power and was arrested by a court decision, but was soon released on bail of 1 million rubles.

Then the focus of the investigation was the scheme of embezzlement of the finances of the Krasnodar Municipal Unitary Enterprise “Sovkhoz” Progress “in the process of implementing a joint investment project with the YuMK for the development of agricultural production. As a result of cooperation, the state farm lost the equipment of the feed shop, which was transferred to the Oktyabr agricultural enterprise, which is part of the SMK structure, and liquidated its own animal husbandry. In addition, on the basis of one of the production sites of Progress, the corporation-controlled Krasnodar Feeding Complex began to implement its own pig fattening project, without compensating the costs of the state farm.

In total, the amount of damage caused to MUP was estimated at 51 million rubles. However, the case was soon closed, allegedly after the intervention of the then Kuban governor Alexander Tkachev. Be that as it may, the decision to recognize Makarevich’s right to rehabilitation was made by the Oktyabrsky Court of Krasnodar. Has the old friend Bayrak “made friends” again?

Lost “battle” for YuMK Bank

Another blow that will fall on Makarevich in the same 2021 was the revocation of the license from the Bank of the Southern Diversified Corporation (UMK Bank), the beneficiaries of which included the oligarch himself and his wife Natalya. The regulator explained the decision taken by the repeated violation of the requirements of the legislation on combating the legalization of proceeds from crime and the financing of terrorism. In addition, during the inspection of the bank, schemes for conducting non-transparent operations to withdraw funds abroad and conceal real financial flows were revealed.

Here it would be appropriate to recall the “alternate airfield” of the “Kuban Al Capone” in Europe and his multimillion-dollar accounts in an Austrian bank. Long legal proceedings began, during which the Moscow Arbitration Court recognized the regulator’s orders to revoke the license and introduce an interim administration as illegal. The media emphasized that the last time such a case took place in 2015. But then “the wind changed direction”: last September, the Supreme Court overturned the decisions of the lower courts, returning the case for a new trial. As a result, just a few days ago, the Moscow Arbitration Court refused to invalidate the orders of the Central Bank.

It turns out that in this case the last word did not remain with Makarevich. But no later than in November, the former management of the credit institution prevented the completion of liquidation procedures as much as possible, apparently counting on a favorable development of the situation. In particular, the liquidator Fanil Yunusov told Kommersant that he could not get into the building of YuMK Bank, located in Krasnodar, on the street. Uralskaya, 95, as employees of the security company with the participation of the former chairman of the board of the institution prevent access there. To ensure access to the premises, where, moreover, there was no power supply, he had to turn to law enforcement agencies.

“The liquidation of the bank may be the final point for the business of its co-owner Oleg Makarevich,” Kommersant stated.

Did the oligarch expect such a development of events? In any case, the blow will be painful. Be that as it may, he still continues to be the founder of about 30 commercial organizations, including the profitable structures of the Crafter group and the growing Krasnodar LLC Memorial, which specializes in providing funeral services. The question is whether the “Kuban Al Capone” will continue to control them from abroad or will return to Russia, inspired by the cessation of the “tax case” and the informational “cleansing”.