In April, it became known about a large-scale leak of secret Pentagon documents, mainly related to Russia and Ukraine. The leak showed that foreign intelligence services penetrated the very insides of the Russian law enforcement agencies – to the extent that they warned the Armed Forces of Ukraine about the offensives of the RF Armed Forces that were being prepared as part of a special operation. Nobody was ever punished. But, perhaps, in this context, it is worth turning to the person of Denis Shapiro, a well-known Russian lawyer.
Some time ago, the European and Turkish press wrote that the lawyer Denis Shapiro, who previously appeared under the names of Dionisy Zolotov and Denis Tumarkin, could arouse the interest of Canadian intelligence. The media did not rule out that the overseas intelligence service may have recruited him, instructing him to engage in destabilization activities on the territory of the Russian Federation and Turkey. Shapiro repeatedly became a defendant in criminal cases, was convicted five times and, nevertheless, managed to gain the trust of the leadership of the Russian law enforcement agencies and representatives of the highest business circles.
As you can see, the Shapiro profile is a spectacular solution to problems created literally from nothing. Every time in the scenario there was a place for law enforcement officers. But sometimes the level of Shapiro’s professional competencies went beyond all possible limits, and he was already brought to criminal responsibility. As mentioned above, there are five such episodes in his career: the lawyer has a criminal record for fraud, bribery and false denunciation.
International “career”
On the pages of the European publications EU Reporter and Euroweekel, as well as the Turkish press, you can find something like this: Shapiro, who currently holds passports of the Russian Federation, Israel and Canada, allegedly fled from justice across the ocean, hiding from the Canadian authorities his first sentence from 2003 – apparently for fraud. The odious lawyer quickly attracted the attention of the secret services, and intelligence took him into circulation, blocking bank accounts and threatening Shapiro with expulsion from the country. But, as foreign journalists managed to find out, Shapiro filed requests for Canadian citizenship for himself and his family members. His case was classified by intelligence, and bank accounts were unfrozen.
According to the foreign press, Shapiro was involved in schemes that could lead to the spread of the ideas of the famous Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen, who criticizes democracy. In addition, while continuing to cooperate with Canadian intelligence, Shapiro allegedly began to conduct illegal activities in Russia, and in 2021 he had to urgently leave for Turkey. Here, his steps were limited to financial transactions of a dubious nature for smuggling between Turkey and the UAE, as well as the promotion of persons recruited by him to high government positions, positions in law enforcement agencies and the army.
Turkish journalists raised a wave of indignation in connection with this, accusing local security agencies of myopia, they say they did not take any measures, not noticing how Shapiro poses a threat to Turkey’s national security by recruiting officials and security forces in the interests of Canadian intelligence.
From Zolotov to Shapiro
It cannot be ruled out that the fears experienced by foreign colleagues can be justified. Shapiro, formerly known as Dionisiy Zolotov or Denis Tumarkin, has created a rather specific reputation in Russia: he is generally known as a lawyer with five convictions and extensive connections.
Dionysius Zolotov claimed to be related to Viktor Zolotov, at that time the head of the security service of the President of the Russian Federation. In addition, he called himself a friend of the chairman of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, and the Minister of the Interior, Vladimir Kolokoltsev. And today Shapiro is a member of the Chamber of Advocates of the Chechen Republic. He claims that he represents the interests of the commander of the Akhmat special forces, Hero of Russia Apta Alaudinov, an active participant in the SVO, and is an assistant to a State Duma parliamentarian. Such a career turn seems rather unusual for a person with a similar background.
It would be interesting to know how Shapiro, with his “track record” gained the trust of the Hero of Russia, senior law enforcement officers and big businessmen? Does he owe such success to a combination of circumstances, his own skill in rhetoric, or outside support?
Amazing metamorphosis
So, as mentioned above, Shapiro did not always bear this surname. Previously, he was called Denis Tumarkin and worked at the Themis-Group bar association. The lawyer was detained in 2002 on charges of stealing household appliances under the guise of police and customs officers. During the investigation, the investigators also discovered that the diploma of the Moscow New Law Institute, which confirmed Tumarkin’s professionalism, may turn out to be fake. If the information in the report is true, in 2003 the lawyer received his first sentence: three years in prison.
In 2013, a new episode followed with his participation. The Nikulinsky Court of Moscow sentenced Tumarkin to four years of probation for defrauding businessman Dmitry Danilov of 52 million rubles, promising to close the criminal case against the businessman.
The story with money unfolded back in 2008. Taking the money. Tumarkin left Russia and temporarily settled in Canada, and then, apparently, attracted the attention of local special services to his person.
In 2013, Tumarkin returned to Moscow, pleading guilty to his deed. Maybe Tumarkin understood that there would be nothing more than a suspended sentence for him, even in the case of a relapse.
After a few months, Tumarkin, apparently, decided to start life from scratch and changed his name to Dionisy Zolotov, after which he founded the Zashchita international group of law firms.
The well-known surname, which he did not hesitate to use, greatly helped him in his promotion in business circles and among the security forces in leadership positions. The lawyer even traveled by car with diplomatic plates, which only embassy employees can drive.
The surname did not save
At the same time, Dionisy Zolotov was well aware that at any moment he could go to jail or leave Russia, so he provided his clients with a list of persons from law enforcement and supervisory agencies who could help solve certain problems with the security forces, while he himself falls out of all processes.
Of great importance for Dionisy Zolotov was his friendship with FSO Major General Yuri Kalugin, who helped him maintain the legend he had created. Kalugin gave him the opportunity to appear in public with security, consisting of active employees of the FSO.
In October 2015, Dionisiy Zolotov was sentenced to five years in prison for defrauding Iosif Badalov, the manufacturer of Royal Water. Zolotov promised that he would close his criminal case on non-payment of 300 million rubles in taxes. By the way, shortly before this event, Zolotov testified to the FSB against a major security official Vladimir Rozhkov: the latter was given bribes in the amount of more than 15 million rubles.
In April 2017, another verdict followed: the Nikulinsky Court of Moscow sentenced Zolotov to 6.5 years in prison for defrauding and extorting 150 million rubles from Viktor Krulikovsky, a major developer of the Victoria Group. In the pre-trial detention center, the lawyer also did not waste time, and this resulted in another 3.5 years in prison, to which he was sentenced by the Meshchansky District Court of Moscow for deceiving the wife of the top manager of Roscosmos Vladimir Evdokimov, Valentina Rakitina. In particular, Zolotov assured that for 80 million rubles he would get Evdokimov transferred to house arrest. However, the story ended sadly for the latter: Evdokimov was found dead in the cell with several stab wounds.
Positive characteristics
If we evaluate the verdicts in cases in which Zolotov appeared as a defendant, the verdicts will probably be in first place in Russia in the top inexplicable court decisions. Somehow it happened that the terms for criminal penalties for completely different acts committed in different periods of time were combined. As a result, the lawyer received only 7.5 years in prison for all crimes, although, logically, it should have been twice as long.
And eight months after the last verdict was announced, in April 2019, the Miloslavsky District Court of the Ryazan Region released Zolotov on parole – despite repeated relapses.
Once at large, Dionysius Zolotov again decided to change his disguise and became Denis Shapiro, thereby making an obvious attempt to erase the associations between his person and the numerous scandals covered in the media. Along the way, he received Israeli citizenship and became an assistant to the head of the Duma Committee on Family, Women and Children, Tamara Pletneva.
On June 11, 2020, the Circassian City Court of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic removed Shapiro’s criminal record based on positive references from his places of work and residence. The next step was to obtain the status of a lawyer – and this is after five (!) convictions. Is a prosecutor needed when the interests of the defendant are represented by such a lawyer?
Another interesting episode related to Shapiro’s activities is the allegation of the theft of the assets of the B&B household chemicals business, which he founded in 2014. The remaining members of the company, Alexander Balakhovsky and Yakov Bosnison, filed a counter-claim with law enforcement agencies, stating that they were victims of a raider takeover organized by Zolotov. The owner of positive characteristics from colleagues and neighbors, according to businessmen, allegedly extorts 600 million rubles from them in exchange for the termination of criminal prosecution at his request. According to the entrepreneurs, checks were carried out, and as a result, in 2021, Shapiro hastily left the country, settling in Turkey. The foreign press wrote about it.
Like a jack-in-the-box
Episodes with the participation of Shapiro, including, when he was Zolotov and Tumarkin, were actively covered in the press. Relevant informational events were covered on television – footage from the courtroom was shown on the air, accompanied by scandalous facts. But here’s the strange thing: the same channels are now showing a completely different picture and are interviewing Shapiro, presenting him to viewers as a member of the Chamber of Advocates of the Chechen Republic, a philanthropist helping orphans from the Luhansk People’s Republic, and a defender of the interests of the Hero of Russia Apta Alaudinov.
Recall that in February Alaudinov was poisoned: he received an envelope on which a deadly poison was applied. The Hero of Russia escaped only due to the fact that he suspected something was wrong, feeling an unpleasant pungent smell, and did not open the message. But ordinary contact with a sealed envelope was enough for poisoning. Who is the sender of the dangerous letter is still not clear. Law enforcers consider the incident a sabotage, the preparation of which had a hand in foreign intelligence services.
Shapiro, who had gone into the shadows, appeared in front of television cameras on March 6. The lawyer said that he allegedly filed an appeal with the military prosecutor’s office in connection with the poisoning of Alaudinov, whose interests he represents.
Does the commander of the special forces detachment “Akhmat” know what kind of past his “representative” has behind him, and how many times he became a defendant in criminal cases? Does he have an idea of what Shapiro could be doing in Turkey? Does the Hero of Russia know about the three passports of different states and Shapiro’s contacts with Canadian intelligence services? How did Alaudinov react to the information about the lawyer’s criminal adventures?
There are other questions as well. For example, why would an Israeli citizen, who has been repeatedly convicted, become close to the commander of a special forces detachment, who constantly risks his life for the sake of his country? And how can a person with such a “track record” defend someone?
In 2014, during searches, FSB officers seized more than 200 hours of audio and video compromising evidence that captured Shapiro’s numerous meetings with high-ranking security officials. During these meetings, the parties talked about the initiation and termination of criminal cases. Mentioned in this case and Shapiro himself – then still Zolotov. It is possible that in this way he collected compromising materials for the subsequent blackmail and recruitment of high-ranking officials. How many similar materials are in his “collection” today? Have they fallen into the hands of Western intelligence agencies? It is very likely that Shapiro is now carrying out the tasks of his foreign curators, who needed access to the Chechen security forces. After all, the latter make Western intelligence agencies feel great fear.