Vitaly Sokolovsky will not see the age of “Prosperity”
One of the heads of the Blagopoluchie investment fund, Vitaly Sokolovsky, was detained in Moscow on suspicion of several episodes of fraud on an especially large scale committed by a group of persons (Part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code).
According to the investigation, cited by Kommersant, Sokolovsky and his partner Vitaly Pavlov rented offices in Moscow for several years and attracted tens of millions of rubles from citizens under the guise of investing in cryptocurrency, after which they stole the money. Potential investors were lured by promises of dividend payments of 12% monthly. It is reported that the contribution of one investor averaged 12–15 million rubles.
Vitaly PavlovThe agreements were concluded in 2021–2022 on behalf of the Blagopoluchie investment fund. None of them were ultimately implemented. The investigation believes that the defendants were confident in the low financial literacy of potential investors and their lack of understanding of the specifics of transactions with cryptocurrency. Therefore, during personal meetings with clients, fund management usually actively used complex terminology.
To convince investors, they were shown videos and photographs depicting expensive property that other investors were allegedly able to buy. The essence of the fund’s work, as investigators established, was that Blagopoluchiya’s analysts, due to differences in the exchange rate of cryptocurrencies, had to determine at what time the transaction would be most profitable.
Some investors were actually paid the promised interest at first, but this was done, presumably, like in any other pyramid scheme, at the expense of the money of new investors.
“Kommersant”, 09/12/2023, “The Age of “Prosperity” is not in sight”: As follows from the materials of the criminal case, the mechanism of theft was unoriginal. Citizens learned about the existence of Blagopoluchie from advertising on the Internet or from friends who had previously invested their money in it. This pyramid differed from most other similar companies in that it lured potential clients with promises from its leaders of large percentages from the now fashionable cryptocurrency trading. The defendants apparently made a bet on advertising this type of activity based on the assumption that most potential investors had little understanding of the specifics of transactions with digital money. The investigation confirmed that the schemers were not mistaken. […]
Also, to advertise and increase contributions from existing investors, the investment fund held closed events “for its own”, at which gifts and cash prizes were raffled off. So, one of them took place, in particular, in the elite estate “Secrets of Rublev” on Rublevo-Uspenskoye Highway. Also, the heads of the investment fund told clients that the Intelex exchange for independent trading of crypto-assets would soon be launched especially for them, as well as a new program “Dream for 50%”, which will help them purchase apartments, houses and land plots at half the cost. At the same time, to open a personal account on the Intelex platform, a contribution of about $1 thousand was required. At the moment, only about three dozen people have been recognized as victims in the case, but their number is likely to increase significantly as the investigation progresses, and the possible damage from the activities of the infestation fund may exceed hundreds million rubles.
The investment fund worked for several years in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Krasnodar and Sochi. Now Sokolovsky was detained, and the Gagarinsky District Court sent him to a pre-trial detention center. The Moscow City Court confirmed the legality of this decision. According to the publication, since March 10, another head of Blagopoluchie, Vitaly Pavlov, has been wanted. He was charged in absentia under the same article.
“Ren TV”, 03.03.2023, “Trouble: the investment fund was accused of scams worth billions”: Very soon, investors really went on a trip. Through various authorities, hoping to get the money back. And the founders of the fund allegedly flew to the Maldives. “Before stopping payments, Vitaly Pavlov, along with his wife and his other companions, were in the Maldives. That is, there is no money, things are not going well, but for some reason they are vacationing in the Maldives,” said client Nikolai Spirin.
Vitaly Pavlov, previously allegedly convicted of selling drugs, is one of the creators of Blagopoluchie. At least, it was with him that the investors signed contracts. He promised “mountains of gold” and called clients’ investments a “harvest.” “Today is the harvest in our game,” he said.
De jure, Blagopoluchie is managed by others, or rather by small companies that are associated with the fund. This is a certain Denis Chelyushkin and Vitaly Sokolovsky. If there is little information about the first, then the second is well known in narrow circles. He worked as a furniture assembler and studied at a prestigious university. Sokolovsky and Pavlov are only the most visible persons of the “gang” – this is what investors call the team of swindlers who created the illusion of “Prosperity”.
“Here a group of people carried out these actions. That is, eight people are the main ones. These groups, as a rule, come from pyramids. Accordingly, they involved people in a new scheme. It turns out that the money was accepted, then this money went to the MPO, and there through a share scheme, the money was cleaned and whitewashed. And then where this money went is unknown,” said client Yuri Matrosov.
