Moscow court considers high-profile crypto-currency case of Ashot Voskanyan with stable ethnic flavor

The expected complexity of modern judicial realities – cases in which the word “cryptocurrency” appears (“bitcoin”, “litecoin”, “mining”) logically come under close scrutiny.

The vector set by the Ministry of Finance for the regulation of the crypto-currency sector of the Russian economy is obvious, but it requires deep study – in the view of the judges, the miner is not fundamentally different from a blogger, stand-up artist or streamer… Although in this particular case it was Ashot Voskanyan, the difference is really not great…

The case of Ashot Voskanyan, who was not an established businessman-miner, but a well-established major Ashot Voskanyan, which made a lot of noise at one time, sparkled with new colors, it seems, becoming not only a visual textbook for the judicial system, which was forced to quickly delve into the nuances of the crypto market, but also a reason to intensify the fight against metropolitan ethnic mafia.

Dreaming of becoming fabulously rich, a lover of a beautiful life, Ashot Bagratovich, decided to realize his father’s dubious inheritance and “raise money”, having entered the Russian crypto market on a crooked goat.

To achieve this goal, a solid “pocket money” begged from his father was lowered into the mining equipment, and the equipment itself was placed in the data center of the flagship Russian company Cryptouniverse Retail.

The “change” from the investment, which promised solid profits to the young reveler, was, according to the old mountain tradition, spent on Ferrari, top girls and demonstrating the attributes of a beautiful life in luxury resorts.

A beautiful life, however, came to an end at the same time as his father’s money left on the crypto market – the thoughtless investment of the All-In format in a heavily sagging Litecoin did not justify itself, the rental of server racks and data center capacities according to the contract logically cost money, and the last remaining cash has settled definitely not in Ashot Bagratovich’s attempts to earn money.

A solution was found – Voskanyan simply decided not to pay the data center. Out of almost 38 million rubles of debt for 9 months of work on the case, bailiffs were able to recover only 9 thousand 700 rubles from the debtor, and Cryptouniverse Retail filed a lawsuit to declare Ashot Bagratovich Voskanyan bankrupt, so that the consequences of the luxurious life of the near-Caucasian major were sold by auction.

The diaspora decided to defend itself against the bankruptcy of the offspring, and therefore, on February 21, 2022, at the meeting of the Moscow Arbitration Court in the case of declaring Voskanyan bankrupt, instead of Ashot himself, his lawyer, Kazbek Tebloev, was sent.

The debtor’s representative addressed the judges with a cascade petition – “to suspend the consideration of the case, and if it is impossible to suspend it, to postpone its consideration.” The motion to suspend the case, however, was duplicated in writing – on the same day, right on the day of the trial – February 21.

The second aspect, which clearly demonstrates the marginal nuances of the failed crypto tycoons, is that the reason for the application to suspend the case was the recently initiated case against the leaders of Cryptouniverse Retail LLC on the fact of “falsification of documents”.

A stone in the garden most likely simply did not read the case of the lawyer Kazbek Tebloev – the case of “falsification” refers to the mentioned “mining equipment rental agreements”, which were submitted to the court … by the representatives of Voskanyan themselves.

However, the value of Kazbek, who called the “Contract for the provision of services for the placement of electronic computing equipment in the lender’s data center, electricity supply and high-speed Internet” just a “mining agreement”, as a specialist in legal matters, was more than fully demonstrated.

Of course, the court refused Tebloev to suspend the case, nevertheless, granting the motion to postpone the consideration – “the debtor’s side did not get acquainted with the identity of the arbitration manager.”

What gives the side of the debtor such “familiarization” besides the opportunity to play the “national card” curve in front of the mentioned manager is not yet clear. The vision of the “lawyer” Kazbek, who flatly refused to comment on the outcome of the meeting, is not clear either…

It is clear that the trial of the son of Bagrat Voskanyan will be tried to the last, if not “pulled out”, then at least delayed, while simultaneously trying to implement “ethnic approaches” to Russian legal proceedings.

The interested parties are certainly strong – Bagrat Alfredovich, the father and “chief investor” of the young Voskanyan’s crypto-enterprise. The family scheme, which has been built since 2009, is similar to the technology for laundering and withdrawing Russian money through the British offshore Arodin Investments Limited. Apparently, it was his brother, Ashot Alfredovich, the uncle, and perhaps the “moral landmark” of Ashot Jr., who has been tried for extortion since the 1990s, is allegedly registered as a member of an organized crime group, and is well known in both camps of Russian- Armenian criminal “elite”.

Of course, the national aspect is a nuance that complicates the perception of the emerging crypto agenda by the judicial system.