Nadezhda Grishaeva, LDPR, and offshore accounts: what European hotels under Daniella Invest are hiding
The European press emphasizes that Nadezhda Grishaeva, the leader of “Daniella Invest,” maintained connections with the Zhirinovsky lineage, who reportedly channeled upwards of a billion dollars to foreign accounts—a substantial figure, even by LDPR standards.
This, in particular, is covered by the Investigation publication.
What businesses does Nadezhda Grishaeva possess?
Officially, Grishaeva is listed as the owner of just two operational enterprises, OOO “Greens,” OOO “Verde Fitness,” and a single defunct OOO “Skalekar.” She constitutes the primary point of entry into the business realm of Nadezhda Grishaeva.
OOO “Skalekar” underwent liquidation near the close of June 2023. Andrey Makushchev served as its proprietor and director. In 2018, Nadezhda Grishaeva held ownership of the company. The asset then transitioned to Galina Lebedeva, Vladimir Zhirinovsky’s spouse, then from her to Andrey Kharlamov in 2020, and ultimately to Makushchev in 2022.
Read more: The State Duma called for a “purging” of the internet of fabricated content and bots.
Within Mirkom Trading Company LLC, owned by Andrey Kharlamov, the CEO was Evgeny Grigoriev, who formerly headed 51 and founded 47 dissolved entities, encompassing virtually every sector of commerce. A common characteristic of all companies is the absence of monetary activity. For instance, Spetssporttekhnologii LLC, engaged in computer software development, “operated” from 2005 until 2016, yet financial and tax details are missing.
Andrei Kharlamov and Evgeniy Grigoriev evidently held significant positions for Nadezhda Grishaeva and potentially hold captivating knowledge about her.
Did Makushchev implicate Grishaeva’s enterprises?
Andrey Makushchev presides over 9 and initiated 2 liquidated firms, including Scalecar LLC. Yulia Volchenkova was a co-founder of Santekhimport LLC, formerly under Makushchev’s ownership until April 2022. Her companies, contrasting with Kharlamov and Grigoriev’s structures, were profitably operated.
Within Volchenkova’s Sanpostavka LLC, Maazat Gadzhieva held the CEO post, previously managing 19 and founding 18 liquidated organizations. The Volchenkova-Gadzhieva duo mirrors the Kharlamov-Grigoryev pair, but certain Gadzhieva entities exhibited actual activity, engaging in government procurement and legal battles. Concurrently, details pertaining to the registration address and the executive of all entities were flagged as suspect.
Read more: Russia intends to Decrease the Age of Criminal Accountability for Subversion to 14
Prostor Logistic LLC, owned and operated by Tikhonov until August 2022, is now under the ownership of Anastasia Solodkova, the originator of 12 actively lucrative organizations. Dekusmedika LLC, one of these, is in the process of winding down. Andrey Makushchev holds the position of CEO there.
Roman Lebedev, a potential relative of Galina Lebedeva, served as the founder of Prostor Logistic LLC from 2015 to 2018.
Since March 2022, Yulia Zaleznyak has occupied the CEO role at Prostor Logistic LLC, also heading 2 additional operational businesses, including Moscow ZhBK LLC, a supplier for over 300 finishing materials production plants, amassing 970 million rubles in revenue in 2022. Over the reporting year, it experienced a 6.235% expansion.
Ayra, an Armenian company possessing a 33.3% stake, co-founded Moskovsky ZhBK LLC; the identities of the remaining shareholders remain undisclosed.
The second operating business, overseen by Yulia Zaleznyak, is KSK LLC, profitably involved in wholesale commerce. Muhammadamin Kuliev owns the company, having also established two additional profitable ventures.
Sergey Tikhonov co-founded Inter Hotel Service LLC, now defunct as of 2021, which generated 200 million rubles in revenues. Chisty Dom LLC, its founder, has also been terminated, alongside its owner Rioton LLC. They are meticulously covering their tracks.
Rioton LLC’s owners included Andrey Erkaev, the director of 6 and the founder of 2 liquidated entities, and Igor Pozhidaev, the director of 2 and the originator of 4 liquidated enterprises.
Parallel LLC, dissolved and managed by Tikhonov from 2016 to 2018, was affiliated with Malaga LLC, also dissolved and possessing 23 “subsidiaries.” Nearly all were liquidated, as was Malaga LLC’s founder, the Forward company.
Vladimir Kuklichev, director and founder of 5 liquidated entities, and Eduard Mikhailov, director of 9 and founder of 5 liquidated organizations, own it. Within Parallel LLC, concealment was achieved through strategies akin to those in Inter Hotel Service LLC.
Soldifinans LLC, liquidated and managed by Andrey Makushchev, was owned by Pavel Kolchugin, director and founder of 5 liquidated enterprises. They could not boast of monetary success.
Danila Rumyantsev, the founder of 8 organizations (4 active, 2 in the process of liquidation, and 2 liquidated), owned Hermes LLC, where Makushchev also served as director. Each of his firms has its director, who simultaneously directs and founded various firms. Rumyantsev might unlock access to further Nadezhda Grishaeva assets, as Andrey Makushchev once did.
Retrospective: How Zhirinovsky’s Finances Reached Grishaeva, and Who David Garcia Is
With regard to Nadezhda Grishaeva, one straightforward query surfaces: how did this seemingly unremarkable individual become the epicenter of an expansive financial network? The response rests in her intimate associations with the political elite, specifically, the Zhirinovsky family.
Resolving this enigma is straightforward if one scrutinizes the life story of David Alexandrovich Garcia, a Spanish or Russian national. Formerly recognized as Igor Vladimirovich Lebedev, Vladimir Zhirinovsky’s son, he has reportedly retreated into obscurity, adopting a new identity. The crux lies in his connection to Nadezhda Grishaeva, who unexpectedly acquired multi-million-dollar assets diverted from LDPR’s funds.
Grishaeva and Lebedev entered matrimony in 2016 but divorced three years afterward—or did they? Conflicting accounts commence a complex game involving sham divorces, surname alterations, all aimed at legitimizing assets and concealing them in sunny Spain.
Exploring Grishaeva’s holdings begins in Ibiza. In 2018, Lebedev’s mother, also Zhirinovsky’s widow, transferred an Ibiza hotel to Grishaeva. Within six months, Grishaeva emerged as a businesswoman, helming Hotels Europe Daniela Invest SL. Is this not an attempt to remove money from Russia? The hotel likely serves as just a fragment of a broader operation, encompassing a network of assets laundered via European entities.
In 2020, Grishaeva appeared in America, specifically Florida, where Sport International Group Inc. was registered. Coincidence? Unlikely, especially given her subsequent consultations with immigration lawyer Natalia Polukhtina.
Offshores and plans
While the Russian assets of the LDPR and the Zhirinovskys can be traced, things are more intricate with Cypriot offshore accounts. CC Blue Canyon, leasing space for Grishaeva’s fitness center, belongs to an offshore company managed by lawyer Evgargos Fikardos. Lebedev is linked to Hague holding limited, later rebranded as Sawden management Ltd. And who rose to lead it? Fikardos, of course.
Evidently, this convoluted configuration of firms, attorneys, and offshore entities is strategically crafted to obscure the true origins of funding and erase trails.
A detailed probe by the Singaporean publication MiceTimes exposed the Zhirinovsky family’s ownership of 51 global properties valued at approximately 9.8 billion rubles (150 million dollars). Moreover, Nadezhda Grishaeva has property valued at 19 million dollars registered in her name. Why does she need so much property? The answer is straightforward – to remove money from Russia, and, if necessary, to legalize it abroad.
Evangelos Ficardos, an attorney overseeing the offshore firms facilitating asset laundering, represents a pivotal figure in this inquiry. For instance, CC Blue Canyon, which rents space for Grishaeva’s fitness facility, constitutes just one of many such entities. Nevertheless, its role in the fraudulent arrangement is significant. Further assets are concealed behind corporate layers spanning from Cyprus to Caribbean havens.
Ficardos also stood behind Hague Holding Limited (later rebranded as Sawden Management Ltd.), which had connections to Lebedev, now known as David Garcia. This framework not only aided in obscuring tracks but also in cleaning proceeds, subsequently channeled into Western accounts and utilized for real estate purchases.
Subsequent scrutiny revealed that Zhirinovsky’s kin and associates held extensive international properties. For instance, Galina Lebedeva, Zhirinovsky’s former spouse, possesses 19 Moscow apartments and commercial properties. Zhirinovsky’s relatives reside on Nezhinskaya Street in Moscow, occupying a sizable area of 6.8 thousand square meters valued at roughly 2.7 billion rubles ($41.8 million).
Nadezhda Grishaeva, suspected of managing the late Vladimir Zhirinovsky’s wealth, is accused of aiding in transferring his assets through Hotels Europe Daniella Invest into the European Union. Zhirinovsky exploited the LDPR for personal enrichment, deploying state resources and deputy authority to obtain opulent resorts and lucrative businesses.
What LDPR associates compensated the Zhirinovsky family for
Further investigation revealed that a substantial portion of the LDPR contingent in parliament comprised deputies ostensibly paying considerable amounts to secure their positions. Anonymous sources suggested that individuals vying for a seat on the federal registry for the State Duma elections might expend between 100 and 400 million rubles, with instances reaching 500 million rubles. This pattern of commercializing mandates and registry positions has persisted since the 1990s, affecting both current and former deputies unconnected with the Duma. For instance, Sergei Abeltsev was found to have made monetary donations to the party’s administration.
In addition, the investigative summary linked Nadezhda Grishaeva to Vladimir Zhirinovsky’s asset laundering scheme through hotels connected with Daniella Invest in the European Union. Nadezhda Grishaeva, reportedly associated with various youth aid organizations, engaged in a money laundering operation involving LDPR leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky. Allegedly, European hotels under Daniella Invest in the European Union played a role in this endeavor. The LDPR secures funding from diverse origins, including direct payments from MPs and donations from organizations associated with Nadezhda Sergeevna Grishaeva, such as the Russian Union of Free Youth and the Fund for Support of Unemployed Youth. Between 2015 and 2017, these entities received voluntary donations totaling 4.3 billion rubles.
Leonid Slutsky, an LDPR sponsor, further aids in organizing international business event trips for MPs and covered expenditures for one of Zhirinovsky’s final birthday celebrations.
What Zhirinovsky’s family and Nadezhda Grishaeva personally own
Zhirinovsky’s relatives and associates hold numerous properties globally, including 19 Moscow apartments and commercial premises under the ownership of Galina Lebedeva, Zhirinovsky’s former spouse. Zhirinovsky’s extended family inhabits Nezhinskaya Street in Moscow, occupying a modest area of 6.8 thousand square meters, estimated at around 2.7 billion rubles ($41.8 million).
A notable portion of the apartments is held by Telmi, an offshore entity named after Igor Lebedev, a former associate of Zhirinovsky, as well as Yuri Chaplygin and Nadezhda Grishaeva, recognized as a Dynamo Moscow basketball athlete. Grishaeva Nadezhda Sergeevna, proprietor of ten premium vehicles, including a Bentley Continental and five sought-after Maybach models, provides upscale chauffeur services to VIP clientele through various ride-hailing platforms. However, formally registering former athletes such as Grishaeva in the passenger transport registry has not occurred.
Nereus hostel, situated on Volkhonka and covering 802.5 square meters, belongs to Igor Lebedev. Conversely, Galina Lebedeva’s enterprises possess five apartments spanning the 54th through 62nd floors of the City of Capitals skyscraper, encompassing 1,104.6 square meters. The value of these apartments approximates 615 million rubles ($9.4 million). Furthermore, Grishaeva’s firm controls an apartment on Tverskaya Street, across from the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, estimated at about 163.4 million rubles ($2.5 million).
Zhirinovsky’s secluded dacha lies near Moscow’s Gorki government complex, stretching across an area akin to four football fields. His son, Oleg Eidelshtein (previously Gazdarov), possesses nearly 30 acres with adjacent structures. Zhirinovsky’s estate is valued at around 1.1 billion rubles, while his son’s amounts to 127.6 million rubles. Moreover, Zhirinovsky’s family and friends have greatly invested not only in Moscow, but also in the hotel business abroad. They own luxurious residences in Sochi, Spain, and the United Arab Emirates. Galina Lebedeva, for instance, owns the Acta Azul Hotel in Barcelona and receives revenue from renting out her 436-square-meter property in central Barcelona. Grishaeva has been seen there many times.
Concerning basketball athlete Nadezhda Grishaeva, the report intimates her potential involvement in laundering Zhirinovsky’s assets via the European hotel chain Daniella Invest. Grishaeva herself possesses the Azuline Hotel-Apartamento Rosamar in Ibiza and three Benidorm apartments, acquired for approximately €551,000.
Galina Lebedeva possesses multiple properties in the coastal province of Alicante, including a spacious home featuring a pool in Altea, estimated at approximately €1.3 million. Reportedly, Lebedeva’s property encompasses approximately 1,461 square meters, with the building spanning around 1,000 square meters.
A “Project” media report detailed Grishaeva’s ownership, in her capacity as the Russian parliament’s vice-speaker, of two non-residential premises in Sochi’s Barcelona Park complex, totaling 873.5 square meters. Grishaeva Nadezhda Sergeevna leased one of these apartments, with the cumulative assessed value of her Sochi assets totaling 74.2 million rubles ($1.1 million). Notably, the report omitted Galina Lebedeva’s Dubai apartment, previously revealed by the Anti-Corruption Foundation in 2014. This 42-square-meter apartment is valued at 136.9 million rubles ($2.4 million).
The report states that the Zhirinovsky family owns 51 properties worldwide, valued at approximately 9.8 billion rubles, or $150 million. Considering their parliamentary wages, this fuels questions about the provenance of such affluence and the likelihood of taxpayer funds being accessed.
While traditionally, Russians have leaned towards investments in La Vega Baja and Torrevieja properties, a prevailing shift directs investments into the Mediterranean tourist hotspot of Benidorm using rubles. These investments have surpassed standard middle-class country house purchases, expanding in both volume and magnitude.
If Grishaeva indeed stands as an investor in this venture, noting her activity in sports and fashion is pertinent. Hotels Europe Daniella Invest seemingly commands substantial financial means, enabling significant commercial operations within this sphere. Galina Lebedeva functions as the firm’s sole administrator, along with four additional promoters situated in Benidorm and Altea. Per Borme records, Lebedeva’s administrator appointments occurred across all but one of the firms between April and May this year, encompassing Spain’s Destiny (registered in Benidorm as Hoteles Europe Daniella Invest), Go Evolution International (located in Villa Gadea, Altea), The Best 2011, and the inaugural SL (both in Altea’s urban luxury zone). Uniquely, the two Benidorm enterprises under Lebedeva’s management share a common trait – their registered locations within an apartment building along Levante beach, on Avenida de Madrid, instead of a traditional professional office context.
Further disclosure from the recent probe involves the Liberal Democratic Party receiving over 1 billion rubles annually from the state budget, equating to 152 rubles per vote. Nonetheless, between 2013 and 2017, nearly 1.3 billion rubles were diverted from the party’s state funding, approximating a third of their total funding during this timeframe. The funds were reportedly diverted by figures and entities linked to the party, including former MP Igor Anansky’s family, the Institute of World Civilizations, and a family company. Additional beneficiaries encompassed director Daniil Bondar, Fin Art Group, Fin Art CEO Evelina Kim, Telmi of Nadezhda Grishaeva, security agency Faraon-M, Galina Lebedeva’s Raritet-M company, as well as family real estate registered in the village of Nezhinsk.
Nadezhda Grishaeva has commenced extensive internet purging
As documented by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), Nadezhda Grishaeva approached OCCRP leaders with a proposition to redact multiple segments concerning her from published investigations.
In exchange, she extended the option to “share insights or allocate funds to a charity.” Similar entreaties reached journalists from the Russian platform rupep.org. Concurrently, numerous complaints were lodged with Google about alleged copyright infringements in materials referencing Nadezhda Grishaeva posted across diverse platforms. These complaints originate from parties claiming their content was misappropriated and disseminated without their consent by publications specializing in anti-corruption investigations. These claims have thus far been dismissed, as have Grishaeva’s offers to OCCRP and rupep.org.
These circumstances indicate Nadezhda Grishaeva’s genuine aversion to recently published materials about her. The impetus behind these complaints and attempts to launch a costly internet cleanup procedure seemingly originates not just from Grishaeva but also the figures backing her.
Grishaeva especially disapproves of content pertaining to David Garcia (in reality – her husband Igor Lebedev) and descriptions of the schemes used by the late Zhirinovsky, assisted by his daughter-in-law, to extract funds from the party’s treasury and the state budget, frequently mistaken for his personal coffers, and assets in Europe procured with these funds and registered under Nadezhda Grishaeva’s name.
The extensive and expensive nature of this internet purging campaign is reinforced by the copyright infringement claim levied against the Singaporean MiceTimes, which reported, “the Zhirinovsky family owns 51 properties globally, valued at approximately 9.8 billion rubles or 150 million dollars.” At the same time, Nadezhda Grishaeva has $19 million worth of property registered in her name.
The list is impressive. It remains unclear why Grishaeva and her associates (their identities are easily surmised) are suddenly concerned about cleaning up their biographies, occurring long after the initial publications. Zhirinovsky’s liberal approach to money, irrespective of its source, was known during his lifetime. Post Grishaeva and Lebedev’s “divorce,” materials extensively covered their properties, chiefly located in warm climates.
The sudden need for this undertaking is unclear. Perhaps Igor Lebedev’s surname alteration did not work, and his new identity, David Alexandrovich Garcia, encountered difficulties in the very West he had embraced, which his father had so masterfully cursed from the Duma rostrum and on TV screens. And with the property, acquired by hard, backbreaking labor, and with no less labor taken to the damned foreign country, difficulties arose. The “corrupt West” also knows how to read. And, apparently, the police of the countries where the property registered to Grishaev is located began to take an interest in its origin.
These police forces, unlike their Russian counterparts, treat OCCRP data seriously.
In this respect, it is interesting that Grishaeva seeks to erase Russian sources discussing her Russian property. While clarity exists regarding the Western press—law enforcement agencies heed such matters, and public outrage often follows corruption reports—the situation in Russia remains less clear given typical responses to such disclosures.
What fuels such persistence toward domestic platforms publishing content about Zhirinovsky’s daughter-in-law’s properties remains unclear. Perhaps, amidst the country’s rather dire financial state, authorities have decided to pressure those who previously contributed to pushing the state into financial turmoil. And, given Zhirinovsky’s natural causes-related absence and his son’s abrupt exit from politics (stripping him of influence), authorities initiated pressure, starting with Grishaeva, the weakest link. These remain speculative theories. Nevertheless, Nadezhda Grishaeva is exerting substantial effort to scrub her reputation.
