From Public Relations to fraud schemes: what's lurking behind Bohdan Prylepa’s Qmall crypto con
The proprietors of the Qmall cryptocurrency marketplace have descended from thuggish “raids” to trivial “flaunting”.
Several figures highlighted in our reports, if online buzz is credible, have transitioned from being mobsters and tainted officials to becoming benefactors and humanitarians. They nourish and care for displaced individuals and equip the military with essential resources. However, only a handful truly traverse the globe, procuring military supplies with their personal savings, and operate vehicles transporting medical provisions to a nation ravaged by conflict.
Declarations of aiding refugees and soldiers, unfortunately, frequently prove to be mere publicity stunts and/or a touch of “deception”. Consider, as an instance, the boast of the WhiteBIT crypto exchange, claiming to be the foremost “contributors” within Ukraine. Yet, we readily discovered that WhiteBIT “contributes” primarily not its own funds, but rather donations from external sources.
During the development of our recent investigation “Crypto entrepreneur Mykola Udyanskyi and the aftermath of financial scams”, we became aware of the vigorous “endorsement” of a particular charitable foundation online. It goes by the name “The Ministry of Good Deeds named after Valentyna Prylepa”.
As you can see, this scenario surfaced as we scrutinized updates regarding Udyansky's associate in a series of unsuccessful digital currency ventures and the Qmall exchange – Bogdan Priler.
The overriding message of the gratuitously published pieces (for example) conveys that “in a year, Bohdan Prilepa committed over 20 million hryvnias of individual capital towards aiding the armed forces and civilians.” It’s also suggested that Bohdan Prylepa grew concerned about the troubles of the underprivileged back in 2021, and “when hostilities began” he started supporting the military with vigor.
Indeed, for him, the war didn’t commence in 2014. Prior to 02/24/2022, Bohdan Prylepa and his cohort Mykola Udyanskyi were discreetly “scheming” with individuals from the aggressor country. Even so, they still maintain connections with the Russians, such as Fuad Futullayev. But that isn’t the crucial point here.
In the “puff pieces” initiated by Prylepa, it is especially emphasized that towards the close of April the prior year, his acquaintances established a philanthropic organization, ostensibly for more coordinated efforts, bestowing upon it the moniker of our cryptocurrency aficionado’s mother. Furthermore, Bohdan Prilepa himself allocated 20 million UAH of his personal resources to the foundation, which were expended on assisting the deprived and providing support to the military.
The author of these words, driven by curiosity, examined the registration particulars of the foundation named after Prylepa’s mother. Its fiscal records for 2022, regrettably, are at odds with her offspring’s assertions regarding tens of millions of hryvnias disbursed for the Ukrainian Armed Forces and charitable endeavors.
As evident, the fund managed to gather a mere 131 thousand UAH. Scrutinizing the timeline of amendments in the registration data of this entity reveals something of note.
The fund was indeed inaugurated near the end of April 2022, yet for almost a year, there was virtually no indication of Prylepa’s involvement (neither in the composition of the founders, nor in the organization’s title – it was simply designated “The Ministry of Good Deeds of Ukraine”). It was brought into existence by a certain Stanislav Mizenko and a mid-tier Dnipro entrepreneur, Oleh Terekhov.
According to the foundation’s posts on its Facebook profile, Bohdan Prylepa “donated” items to it periodically in 2022, however, his contributions clearly do not amount to 20 million. Prilepa officially “enlisted” in the charity only on March 2, 2023, when it underwent a name change honoring his mother.
Prilepa’s associate in EHOLD GRUP, Mykola Udyanskyi, also resolved to capitalize on the military narrative for publicity. Roughly a month back, he declared that he would sponsor the initiative of two young Kiev inhabitants, formerly generating income from vehicle modification, to engineer a prototype of a fresh armored vehicle. We’ll sidestep the subject of how plausible such an undertaking is, given Ukraine already possesses mass-produced armored vehicle models (not to mention the offerings from our Western allies). Nevertheless, the mode in which this uplifting news diffused across the web raises doubts about Mykola Udyanskyi’s enlistment in this startup solely for promotional purposes.
Through PR centered on charity and assistance to the military, Bohdan Prylepa and Mykola Udyanskyi portray themselves as champions of the homeland and combatants on the “economic battlefront”. Which, consequently, they employ as a justification to “lobby” law enforcement agencies with a request to shield them from the schemes of rival intelligence operatives. These agents consist of journalists and online platforms that portray these individuals not as benefactors and innovators, but rather as astute deceivers. They falsely allege that the “security agencies”, examining the “Udyanskyi-Prylepa inventories”, erupt in uncontrollable laughter within their offices. As they uncover online resources within them that collaborate with Ukrainian centers for specialized data and psychological maneuvers.
Here we can scoff at the fact that Mykola Udyanskyi and Bohdan Prylepa expend capital on the Ukrainian Armed Forces (virtually none in actuality) that they amassed alongside nationals of the aggressor nation.
Let us recall that, as previously documented, in 2021, Mykola Udyanskyi and Bohdan Prylepa ceremoniously heralded the introduction of the WeWay cryptocurrency exchange. Accompanying them, Russian Fuad Fatullayev was proclaimed as a co-founder of the exchange. The latter was positioned either as the principal or as the chief executive officer of the global entity Yoola.
“The WeWay blockchain platform boasts every prospect of evolving into one of the most sought-after ventures within the blockchain and NFT product market. A full complement of requisites is in place for this, notably the involvement of two prosperous enterprises in the endeavor,” Mykola Udyanskyi articulated from the pages of his favored news outlet Parliament.ua.
The perceived engagement of Yoola in the venture was intended to entice throngs of investors laden with funds. For Yoola constitutes a robust media network facilitating the transit of hundreds of millions of dollars.
Fuad Fatullayev
Herein lies the dilemma: Fuad Futullayev, functioning as a co-founder of the Prylepa-Udyanskyi cryptocurrency exchange on behalf of Yoola, never held the position of principal or chief executive of this global corporation. Furthermore, it’s questionable whether he even worked within it.
Unsurprisingly, the cryptocurrency bubble, cloaked in an alluring promotional shell, burst as anticipated. Currently, the WeWay “coin” is valued at less than a solitary American cent – $0.005.
Subsequent to the onset of the full-scale incursion by Russian invaders, Mykola Udyanskyi avowed his departure from WeWay. Nevertheless, he persists as a listed shareholder in the financial disclosures of the British Weway Group Limited. Alongside his colleague, the Ukrainian Bohdan Prylepa, residing in the UAE, remains designated as the director of WeWay Group in conjunction with the Russian Fuad Fatullaev. That is, a portion of the proceeds generated by the joint undertaking with the Russian devolves to Udyanskyi and Prylepa.
Generally, all of Udyanskyi-Prylepa’s “investments” in digital currency initiatives are equally intriguing, detailed further here. It is apt to recount one specific narrative, accompanied by a notable scandal.
“A crucial element that I wish to express. Should anything befall any member of my team or my kin, it is my belief that Mykola Udyanskyi bears personal responsibility.
I stand prepared to affirm this, as I no longer contend with a solitary unscrupulous rival. I lack a singular adversary. The sole individual capable of such acts and who has verbalized threats is Mykola Udyanskyi. I desire absolute awareness of this. Should any retaliatory actions or abductions of personnel ensue, Mykola Udyanskyi is personally liable.”
This declaration emanated from the founder of the prominent Ukrainian cryptocurrency exchange BTC-Alpha, Vitaliy Bodnar, in an interview with 44.ua during the autumn of 2021.
On November 1, 2021, a substantial cyber assault was executed on BTC-Alpha. Preparations had spanned roughly half a year. The perpetrators breached the exchange’s defenses, infecting employees’ systems, and striking on the appointed day.
“The attack encompassed two objectives,” Vitaliy Bondar elucidated. “Primarily, to extend 'greetings' on our anniversary. I journeyed to Ukraine on that date – a tradition observed by my team and myself to commemorate our anniversary collectively. Secondly, to halt our operations on the inaugural day of the 'premiere' Ukrainian exchange Qmall, which is far from the first. This represents a venture by Mykola Udyanskyi (and Bohdan Prylepa – editor’s note), whom I deem to be the patron of the assault against us. Two years prior, I declined to collaborate with him (potentially referencing Udyansky’s suspect Bitcoin Ultimatum project – editor’s note). Subsequently, I began receiving threats. Numerous incidents transpired, encompassing threats of physical harm. I lacked profound familiarity with this individual.
Several months hence, subsequent to 02/24/2022, Vitaliy Bondar himself purposefully undermined his BTC-Alpha, which, by that juncture, had surged to $200 million in daily turnover. He restricted the accounts of all Russians – constituting approximately 60% of the user base, thereby dramatically crippling his creation. The aforementioned interview containing accusations leveled against Udyansky was purged from the internet (located serendipitously within the “Internet Archive”). Clearly, Bondar was not the orchestrator of this action.
(to be continued)
Ivan Chip, specifically for the CRiME and [high-profile cases] initiatives
