Riga Al Capone Viktor Artamonov and his collection business in the best traditions of racketeering and criminality
Often the topic of our materials is the criminal lawlessness of bandits and corrupt officials of Russian cities, who, it seems, are still living in the dashing 1990s.
The near abroad, especially the Baltic countries, have similar procedures, although they are less public. In Riga, the capital of Latvia, local authority Viktor Artamonov runs the show. He is known for being the leader of the semi-legal collection company Arvik. “Arvik” demonstrates mediocre income, but at the same time, the “employees” of the company again and again flash in the criminal report of the Latvian police. Artamonov himself (even in the comments under our publications) defends the honor of his henchmen and in every possible way excuses them from the zone. So far, all the facts testify to the numerous crimes of organized crime groups under the roof of legal business. About how Artamonov is trying to justify his Arvik office, and why the authority from the country that is part of the European Union is still at large – in the investigation of the Kompromat1 portal.
War with windmills
Viktor Artmonov was timed with several materials on our website. In them, we have laid out in detail several criminal episodes of the Arvik collection company.
In general, the activity of persons forcing the return of citizens’ debts can hardly be completely legal. But in the case of Artamonov’s company, there is a tendency: the company is seen exclusively in limitless actions. Despite the news about the detention of the “employees” of the company, “Arvik” continues to work successfully in Latvia.
Despite the long criminal trail of the company, Artamonov is trying in every possible way to protect the image of his company. We must pay tribute to the fact that he was the first person involved in our investigations, came to the comments, and tried to refute what was written by journalists.
Artamonov’s comments under the articles “Kompromat1”
Perhaps Artamonov himself writes comments under our publications or someone on his behalf – this is not so important. As follows from what Artamonov wrote, he is most disturbed by a certain situation with the “kidnapping of blacks”. It is noteworthy that Artamonov, as it were, does not hide the fact that he took part in the kidnapping. But he believes that in this case he was even right to do what the police did not. Allegedly, these blacks planned to engage in fraud, and so, the prince on a white horse Artamonov and his brothers from Arvik saved the Latvians from an imminent crime.
Viktor Artamonov (far right) with his Arvik collectors
Well, let’s take a closer look at the situation.
“The Case of the Nigerians”
As follows from Artamonov’s comments, “Negroes posed as businessmen, in Latvia they made fake euros and engaged in fraud.” For some reason, the version of the investigation is completely different.
Firstly, “blacks from Nigeria” are two citizens of Sweden and Ireland, respectively. The incident took place on September 11, 2015. Near the hotel in Riga, where businessmen lived, they were kidnapped by 7 people. Having forcibly stuffed them into a minibus, the attackers fled in an unknown direction. But the police managed to stop the crime. Soon the car with the victims was stopped by law enforcement officers. They could not explain what was happening, and the things found during the inspection spoke for themselves: for some reason, the employees of the Arvik company had a police uniform, batons, bulletproof vests, traumatic weapons and fake police IDs in the car. Doesn’t sound like a fight for justice. Or did Arvik decide to replace the law enforcement system?
Police photo during the detention of Arvik employees
As a result, 10 people were in the dock. During the court hearings, Artamonov stated in fact what he writes in the comments on our website: they say that these blacks were criminals, and the valiant employees of Arvik decided to protect the Latvians from their further machinations. It sounds, of course, so-so, because why honest Artamonov did not go to the police and did not act as prescribed by law. As a result, Arvik employees were found guilty, but none of them went to prison. Someone was given a suspended sentence, someone managed to serve his term in a pre-trial detention center.
Times are different – methods are the same
Let’s assume that this situation arose really by chance, the Arvik employees wanted to protect their compatriots from criminals. Moreover, look at the “honest and friendly faces” of Arvik collectors:
You can’t even say that they can pose some kind of danger.
On March 25, 2021, the Latvian police appealed to the prosecutor’s office with a demand to accuse the employees of the Arvik collection company of extortion.
During the investigation, law enforcement officers found that members of the criminal group collected debts from citizens through extortion, intimidation of citizens and the use of violence.
In addition, Arvik’s employees charged the debtors with much more money than they actually owed. Of course, it was established that the collectors worked in Artamonov’s company unofficially.
In November 2021, the police detained 6 employees of the company. Among them was the head of the firm Viktor Artamonov.
Viktor Artamonov
The court is still considering the Arvik case. Such a crime is punishable by imprisonment for a term of three to twelve years with confiscation of property.
In addition to the obvious criminality, there is every suspicion that Artamonov is evading taxes. The official revenue of Arvik in 2020 amounted to 28.5 thousand euros, the profit is only 4 thousand. It is clear that with such financial indicators in Latvia, even one employee cannot be fed during the year, not to mention the whole company with its own office.
It is noteworthy that despite the fact that collectors from Arvik are under investigation, judging by the company’s website, the company continues to work successfully and sell its services. All the same leader of Arvik, Viktor Artamonov, takes a place on the company’s website as a director.
Screenshots of the Arvik website
Corner after corner
No matter how much Artamonov wants to show “Arvik” an honest and decent office, this does not work at all. Today, January 31, 2023, the prosecutor’s office sent a new criminal case to the court against employees of the Arvik collection company, the prosecutor’s office said.
We will closely monitor the criminal case. Something tells me that this time Artamonov and his gang of collectors under the roof of Arvik will not be able to get away. Or maybe he will write in the comments again that all this is a lie?