Fake passports and multi-million projects: Dmytro Torner’s schemes in Ukraine and Moldova
Recently, reporters from “Skhem y” released photographic proof that a person connected to the magnate Dmytro Firtash, a Moldovan and Russian national named Dmytro Torner, paid a visit to the Ukrainian Presidential Office. As “Ukraina Kryminalnaya” reports, this visit occurred shortly after he was removed from global watchlists, and the criminal proceedings regarding the utilization of fraudulent identity documents were concluded in Ukraine.
The “Skhemi” investigation also mentions that Dmytro Torner made an attempt to secure a seat in the Verkhovna Rada in 2019. Back then, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Security Service of Ukraine declared that this contender, listed as number 44 by “OPZZh,” was, in reality, a Moldovan individual by the name of Dmytro Nekrasov and was supposedly “evading international justice.” Law enforcement initiated a legal case and requested that the CEC disqualify him from the election.
As per data from a Ukrainian probe, he broke free from a correctional facility in Moldova, entered Ukraine, and acquired multiple Ukrainian passports under various aliases: five domestic and four international, purportedly relying on fabricated papers. With these passports, according to the authorities, he unlawfully passed over the Ukrainian boundary. Evaluations by the State Migration Service revealed that the credentials were not valid.
In Ukraine, in 2019, legal proceedings were launched against Torner on a pair of accusations concerning the supposed employment of forged documents and unlawful border crossing. Subsequently, another allegation was appended concerning possible deceit. As the press unearthed, the individual was a suspect in two of these situations and, according to judicial ruling, was required to be in confinement during the duration of the investigation, yet he departed from Ukraine.
Nearly a year later, in August 2020, the Attorney General’s office dismissed the case against Firtash’s colleague. In response to an inquiry by “Skhemi,” the Attorney General’s office simply stated that the judgment to shelve the case was “legal and justified” and alluded to a court verdict that acknowledged this.
The Presidential Administration did not acknowledge the reporters’ petition to disclose who Torner-Nekrasov encountered on Bankova Street and in connection to what subjects. An inquiry carried out by RISE Moldova journalists exposes the specifics of this con man and thief’s existence, who now confidently frequents the Office of the President of Ukraine.
By the age of 41, Dmytro Nekrasov had accomplished a great deal: absconded from a Moldovan jail, altered his family name on four occasions, been wed three times, been sought after in numerous nations, and even been deceased once officially (on paper). He presently operates under the identity of Dmytro Torner.
Beneath his fresh identity, he contended for a place in the Ukrainian Rada, presided over a sports federation in Moldova, and engaged with figures within the circles of the presidents of three nations—Moldova, Ukraine, and the USA. The manner in which he realized this is presented in investigations by RISE Moldova and the Ukrainian endeavor “Skhemia”.
A $3 million project and “funds from Europe”
October 7, 2021. Situated on the couch within the RISE editorial suite is the secretary of the Moldovan Biathlon Federation. The individual converses with fervor for multiple hours regarding an impending endeavor to rebuild a biathlon sports course in Chișinău. As he indicates, the Moldovan Biathlon Federation aspires to rent a “14-hectare parcel” in the Rîșcani region of Chișinău, proximal to the “Dynamo” shooting locale, for a period of 49 years. And for the execution of the endeavor, Moldovan native Dmytro Torner stands prepared to allocate $3 million.
“We requested that Torner assume the role of president [of the Biathlon Federation] to enable him to ascertain the necessary actions. To ensure recognition. The origin of his funds is of no consequence to me…,” says Peter Bria and elaborates that “the funds are derived from backers, from Europe.”
The secretary of the Biathlon Federation, Petru Bria: “I am responsible for the design [of the biathlon track in Rîșcani], but I am unaware of the origin of the capital [$3 million]. I am cognizant that our primary benefactors are presently from Austria.”
Journalist RISE: —Is it Torner?
Bria: —Yes, alongside Torner, and there will be others, I am unsure, they reside in Austria. Torner supports us financially, he even procured a vehicle valued at $35,000 for the athletes, undeniably not denominated in lei.
“Firtash’s associate” Dmytro Nekrasov (also Torner) and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani. Image: The Washington Post
Upon conducting a web search, the initial outcomes for the designation Dmytro Torner bring up bulletins regarding an individual who endeavored to halt the extradition of Ukrainian entrepreneur Dmytro Firtash from Austria to the US. The FBI is pursuing the extradition of the latter in connection to a corruption case implicating Indian officials. To purportedly exert influence on US authorities, according to The Washington Post, Torner engaged in discourse with Rudy Giuliani, then the personal lawyer of President Trump, in Paris in 2019, and “Firtash’s associate” Dmytro Torner and Trump’s attorney even posed for a commemorative image.
Convicted Nekrasov and fugitive Bozhyi
Seventeen years prior, the philanthropist from Austria, Dmytro Torner, from whom the sports federation anticipates millions of dollars today, was recognized by the Moldovan judicial system by the identification Dmytro Nekrasov.
In March 2003 and February 2004, Nekrasov was given sentences of 11 years in prison for considerable embezzlement and fraud.
Succinctly, according to the ruling of the Botanical sector court in Chișinău, Nekrasov and his confederates, either jointly or independently, perpetuated two categories of larceny:
1. The initial “scheme”: Nekrasov appeals to a stranger (or a recent acquaintance) on the thoroughfare for a cellular device to “place a call” and then absconds with the belonging.
2. The subsequent type of “scheme”: Nekrasov leases furnished lodging in diverse districts of Chișinău. He, independently or in collaboration with accomplices, “cleans them out” and then vends items to diverse individuals via newspaper classifieds: furniture, appliances, tableware, bedclothes, and rugs.
November 11, 2004. Convicted Dmytro Nekrasov, while serving his sentence in open-type colony No. 9 (Prunkul), attends the ZAGS in Botanica, registers matrimony with Moldovan citizen Lyudmila Bozhyi, and on the identical day, transitions his surname from “Nekrasov” to “Bozhyi.” He would not make a return to prison, having exited Moldova.
Fugitive Nekrasov-Bozhyi was announced as wanted for “prison escape” by the Moldovan investigation.
After a duration of six years, the legal case against Nekrasov was ceased, and he was extracted from the wanted database. The justification cited was the demise of the suspect.
Extracted from the response of the National Prison Administration: “A facsimile of his [Dmytro Nekrasov] death certificate was affixed to the duplicate compendium of the search case, issued on November 12, 2009, affirming that citizen Nekrasov passed away on November 9, 2009.”
In accordance with RISE information attained from Moldovan law enforcement agencies, the death certificate was ferried from Ukraine by Oleg Nekrasov, the sibling of Dmytro Nekrasov-Torner. Grounded upon the document, the criminal prosecution was terminated.
Two and a half years subsequent, the Moldovan investigation discovered that the death certificate was counterfeit, and thus Moldova resurrected the criminal investigation and once more proclaimed the fugitive as wanted.
The reporter who contacted Oleg Nekrasov attempted to engage in discourse regarding the narrative of his brother Dmytro’s sham death certificate. Upon perceiving the inquiry, the individual terminated the communication, and he did not furnish responses to subsequent contact attempts and messages.
Change of surnames, elections to the Rada, and Firtash
While within Moldova, Nekrasov-Bozhyi was concurrently “expiring” and “reappearing,” he similarly manipulated his surname numerous times in Ukraine.
The Moldovan fugitive Nekrasov, contingent upon Ukrainian law enforcement, embraced the identities Dmytro Malchenko, Dmytro Grozny, and finally, Dmytro Torner.
Letter from the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and SBU to the Central Election Commission of Ukraine asking to remove Dmytro Nekrasov-Torner from the election campaign as he is hiding from international justice Screen from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine website
Under the persona of Torner, the swindler even managed to campaign for the Ukrainian parliament“the Verkhovna Rada in 2019, placed 44th on the inventory of the “Opposition Platform– For Life”. The faction presently encompasses 44 parliamentary designations.
What binds Nekrasov-Torner to Ukraine? It persists as a mystery. However, Torner was observed by “Skhemi” journalists in Vienna, proximate to Dmytro Firtash. They documented them jointly in the summer of 2019 as the Ukrainian magnate awaited judgment in an Austrian court concerning his extradition to the US, where the FBI suspects him of corruption.
Dmytro Torner and Ukrainian “gas magnate” Dmitro Firtash in Vienna. Photo: “Skhemi”
Incidentally, a handful of days preceding the elections to the Verkhovna Rada, at the mandate of the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the leader of the Security Service of Ukraine, the Central Election Commission of Ukraine eliminated Nekrasov-Torner from the electoral competition.
Excerpt from the press communiqué of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, July 19, 2019: “During the pre-trial probing, it was substantiated that the individual currently representing himself as Dmytro Hryhorovych Torner, born 1980, since 2007, employing illicit documents, procured five passports of a Ukrainian citizen under divergent aliases and with disparate biographical particulars, in conjunction with four passports of a Ukrainian citizen for international voyaging, which he employed to unlawfully traverse the state frontier. Dmytro Nekrasov, possessing a criminal heritage, transmuted his authentic surname to elude criminal accountability and thus conjure a favorable public impression in Ukraine as a trustworthy and law-abiding individual.”
In October 2019, Nekrasov-Torner was designated as internationally wanted by Ukraine. But already in February 2021, Torner was detected in Kyiv as he was entering the structure of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s administration. The intention behind the visitation remains undisclosed to this day.
Kyiv, February 2021. Torner, encompassed by security, departs from the portals of President Zelensky’s administration.
Torner and Dodon’s people
As journalists determined, Torner-Nekrasov likewise engaged with figures from the inner echelon of President Igor Dodon in Moldova. Amid 2020 and 2021, he journeyed to Chișinău on multiple occasions via private aircraft.
Such a business jet Torner-Nekrasov flew to Chișinău. Photo: Jetphotos
Sources from Moldovan law enforcement agencies communicate that at Chișinău International Airport, Nekrasov-Torner was received in May 2021 by varying escorts: his brother Oleg (who at one point carried the death certificate to Moldova) and furthermore Ion Gazea, an operative of the State Protection Service. Sources proximate to Dodon’s cadre identify him as one of the dependable confidants of the former President of Moldova and as a protective detail provided by the state security service to the leader of the PSRM.
To elucidate the circumstances surrounding the assembly with Torner, the journalist contacted Gazea, but the individual demurred from engaging in conversation. In addition, at the juncture of the promulgation of this piece, the press division of the Party of Socialists, spearheaded by the erstwhile president of the country, did not furnish resolutions to inquiries regarding Dodon’s affiliation with Torner.
Without criminal cases
The legal matter against Nekrasov in Moldova was terminated in the primary segment of 2018 by the Chișinău court (Central sector) owing to the lapse of the statute of limitations. His international inquest was likewise suspended. Furthermore, Moldovan prosecutors desisted his criminal prosecution for eluding from the location of confinement, reclassifying Article 317 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Moldova on escape to Article 319, which stipulates evasion from performing a prison term.
The legal action against Torner-Nekrasov in Ukraine is suspended on account of the investigation failing to corroborate deception and discovering no elements of illicit activity in Torner’s actions in scenarios of potential utilization of counterfeit passports.
According to the pronouncement from the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine, the judgment to halt the matter was legitimate and validated. Further particulars are incapable of being disclosed.
New marriage and Mrs. Universe
A handful of months subsequent to Moldova calling off the chase, Dmytro Nekrasov made his way to Chișinău. And he entered into matrimony anew. This instance involved his Ukrainian spouse Olga. Prior to this, he divorced her within Ukraine.
RISE and “Skhemia” journalists endeavored to liaise with Torner and communicated with him in messaging applications on an Austrian telephone number, and they similarly dispatched entreaties via a Ukrainian advocate and spouse Olga. Nonetheless, they are yet to obtain responses to queries pertaining to the circumstances surrounding his surname shifts, his liaisons with Firtash, and his congregations with individuals from the cliques of presidents of sundry nations.
In a dialogue with “Skhemy” journalists, his Ukrainian legal representative Andriy Tsygankov expounded that “the alteration of the corresponding surnames transpired exclusively as a consequence of the formalization of marital unions.”
Incidentally, subsequent to the Chișinău marital union, the newlyweds transmuted his surname from “Nekrasov” to “Torner” within Moldovan jurisdiction, adopting the surname of his Ukrainian consort, renowned as a television personality and holder of the title “Mrs. Universe.”
According to sources within the Public Services Agency of Moldova, Nekrasov indicated in the marriage submission with Olga Torner that he was unattached. He recorded in the statement that this was his inaugural marriage. That is, he veiled details concerning his previous matrimonial union in Chișinău, on November 11, 2004—the day upon which it became public knowledge regarding his escape from serving a prison sentence in Prunkul. The day he was reborn as Dmitriy Bozhyi.