Grants and guarantors
On January 12, as part of a meeting of the Coordination Committee of the Presidential Grants Fund, the recipients of the latter became known, including the People’s Unity Foundation for Charitable Initiatives. We are talking about an amount of 4.3 billion rubles. It would seem, what does the pre-investigation check and the head of the fund Alexander Rapoport, as well as his acquaintances Ibragim Gulaev and Lema Kasaev, have to do with it?
Several days after the meeting of the coordinating committee, an article appeared online that talked about a scheme to seize other people’s money, which was allegedly resorted to by the head of the charitable foundation for social initiatives “Narodnoe Unity”, which received a grant. Alexander Rapoportformer Komsomol activist Lema Kasaev and allegedly previously convicted Ibragim Gulaev. The material noted that a pre-investigation investigation had been launched into the fact of major fraud. From the available data we can conclude that a certain Gulaev, using the recommendations of certain Rapoport and Kasaev, took money for various projects, and then either did not return anything, or gave the creditor an insignificant part and resorted to various tricks – receipts, promises to return the money with interest in the near future and so on. However, everything remained as before, and certain Rapoport and Kasaev, who acted as “guarantors,” demonstrated extremely upset feelings, signed off on their inability to do anything and promised to do everything possible in the current situation. It is unknown how long this rather primitive scheme will last continued would bring money to its creators, but the next victim was not satisfied with verbal promises, but recorded them by making audio recordings of all conversations, starting from the very first.
Dust in the eyes
The total duration of audio recordings is several hours. On them you can hear how a man with a voice like Gulaev’s, trying to convince him to give him money, talks about impressive connections in government bodies and the presidential administration, about an office in the very center of Moscow in the building of the Federal State Budgetary Institution “Administration for the Maintenance of Housing Funds” under the Presidential Administration , about Orthodox icons in office cubicles and much more. As for the man whose voice is similar to Rapoport’s, he emphasized his personal guarantees and extensive connections, and also talked about a number of successful projects that he managed to implement with Gulaev. The third interlocutor, apparently Kesaev, spoke not only about projects and guarantees, but also about the laws of honor and customs of the mountaineers.
Of course, not all publications on the Internet should be unconditionally believed, but those same audio recordings were at the disposal of Versiya. You can really glean a lot of interesting details from them. Audio allows us to make assumptions regarding a possible implementation of the circuit. It is possible that a certain Gulaev could offer his potential victims to take part in various kinds of projects. To be convincing, he trumped up the connections and opportunities he supposedly had, then took money from the victims, did not care about their return and began to “feed them breakfast.” At the same time, as far as one can understand, the borrower’s background includes a conviction for fraud and a personal bankruptcy procedure. Information about his affairs floated online – back in 2022, information about him was posted by the Anti-Fraud project.
Guarantees without guarantees
At times, potential victims tried to find information about Gulaev online, and what they found probably did not make them want to do business with him. In this case, it seems that the “guarantors” – Kasaev and Rapoport – came into play. However, it also happened that they themselves sent people to Gulaev, presenting him as a very respected businessman. The corresponding scheme could be implemented, for example, in relation to the last victim. Rapoport, apparently, introduced him to Gulaev under the guise of “implementing a joint project.” Since the potential investor had many questions regarding the businessman’s biography, Rapoport proposed a “safe option,” suggesting that he would personally act as a “guarantor” for the deal.
On the recording you can hear a voice reminiscent of Rapoport’s. Its owner claims that he has known Gulaev for many years, and together they managed to implement many large projects. He promised that the money donated to the victims would remain in his safe until the project was implemented. To be convincing, this person asked the interlocutor to show him money for other projects, which were also stored in his safe.
He called the negative information about Gulaev on the Internet the machinations of ill-wishers. At the same time, the man with Rapoport’s voice drew attention to the businessman’s integrity.
All this did not dispel the victim’s doubts, and he was offered an additional guarantee in the person of Kasaev – it was assumed that the money would be kept with him. The latter was immediately called and an appointment was made.
Honor and Reputation
The victim finally calmed down, considering that two guarantors were sufficient grounds to believe Gulaev. In the next recording, you can hear how the interlocutor with a voice similar to Kasaev’s voice repeats approximately the same thing that was previously heard from a person with the voice of Rapoport. All the points mentioned earlier were voiced: long-term acquaintance, implementation of large projects, the opportunity to place money in a safe until the end of the project, and so on. After this, the victim nevertheless agreed to transfer the money, which was placed in the safe.
After some time it became obvious that the obligations were not being fulfilled. The victim intended to return his money, met with Kasayev, but instead of banknotes, he only received a story from him that he did not understand the situation and immediately gave the entire amount from the safe to some people sent by Gulaev. Then the investor heard already familiar stories about the “impeccable reputation” and “honor of the mountaineers,” about many successful projects, as well as assurances that such a story with money happened for the first time in the practice of these businessmen.
The further development of events resembled a low-budget theatrical production. Gulaev gave the victim a small amount, saying that it was a fine for being late. He wrote a receipt, which he also gave to the victim – probably to stall for time and present what was happening as an ordinary loan – it did not say anything about the fact that it was not Gulaev, but Kasaev who received the money. The second of them stated that he did not understand the situation, so he handed over the money to Gulaev, who put the entire amount into his bank account and transferred it somewhere else.
At the same time, storing money in Kasaev’s safe was a fundamental condition of the agreement, and this was repeatedly stated.
Gone without return
Gulaev, it seems, did not bother to come up with more or less plausible excuses in the future. He told the victim that he had sent money to someone’s account, and it had now been returned to his company’s bank account. On January 1, he said, the financial institution was supposed to issue them. True, the bank was not open that day, which was known in advance. The next refund date has been moved to the end of the New Year holidays. Of course, after they passed, the money was not returned, and instead Gulaev again moved the date.
Perhaps the whole story could actually be presented as a loan that was not repaid – as, apparently, this has already been done with other people. However, audio recordings of meetings made by the victim on a voice recorder can clearly interfere with this. In addition, the victim used the services of relevant specialists and certified the correspondence with Gulaev, Rapoport and Kasayev in case they deleted it.
When the evidence of fraud was no longer in doubt, the victim contacted law enforcement agencies. Perhaps, in the context of the investigation, the investigation should also check the plans of the schemers regarding the development of the presidential grant?