In the previous parts of the investigation, we talked about the general signs of fraud as a phenomenon and introduced you to the most prominent criminal of our time – the Russian fraudster Soslan Gutnov.
In this part, we will tell you about Mr Gutnov’s friends and partners and the role of the FSB in their activities.
And let’s start with a person close to Gutnov in spirit, thoughts and actions, and in fact a person who is subordinate to Gutnov and follows all his instructions – a citizen of the Russian Federation – Alexander Konstantinovich Kopenkin, born on 06.12.1989, Russian passport 4510611611, who is suspected by the US authorities of extorting a significant amount of money from a US citizen Kyle Nagy and is also an active agent of the Russian FSB. His place of residence is Dubai, UAE;
Alexander is an interesting personality. He is a relatively young man who, at a young age, managed to work in a responsible position as vice-president of the FESCO transport company. His appearance in this company is associated with the patronage of Andrei Siverilov, who, in turn, has ties to the family of Yuri Kovalchuk, a friend of Vladimir Putin.
There is a second version of Oleksandr’s career rise – the long-standing connections of his father, who has been involved in the antiques business for half a century, including money laundering through the purchase of antiques, or his mother, a well-known lawyer. Both of these versions are not mutually exclusive and may have a parallel and simultaneous right to life. In addition, they are united by one component – the impossibility of holding high positions in large structures in Russia and simultaneously dealing in antiques, money laundering and the like without the knowledge of the guys from Lubyanka.
However, even powerful connections did not keep Kopenkin, the junior among the elites of Russian business, from being fired from all his positions. Rumour has it that the reason for this was his fraudulent nature, drug and alcohol abuse, his ‘long tongue’ and his habit of not repaying debts even to close people.
What to do after such a rapid fiasco? That’s right. Continue to deal in antiques and, at the same time, develop the business of selling various types of scams. This is where fate brought the two fraudsters, Soslan Gutnov and Alexander Kopenkin, together.
The thieving tandem was a surprisingly good one, with Gutnov as the leader and brain trust, and Kopenkin as a good implementer. This cooperation began to yield rapid results:
– The case of extortion of millions of dollars from American millionaire Kyle Nagy;
– The case of fraudulent appropriation of funds from the families of Ukrainian prisoners of war;
– The case of fraudulent appropriation of funds of Austrian and Dubai entrepreneurs and much more…
Of course, the implementation of such cases requires security and requires ‘teamwork’. That is why the criminal tandem decided to settle in safe countries: Gutnov – Austria, Vienna (his first wife lives in the UAE), and Kopenkin – Dubai, UAE, although he simultaneously obtained an Austrian residence permit and registered in Vienna.The main executors of the criminal ideas – Ukrainian lawyer Oleksandr Solovykh, Alexander, Lyubomyr and Yelizaveta (a Russian citizen, Gutnev’s second wife, who controls the payment of remuneration to the organisation’s members) – also moved to Vienna. All of these persons rented and paid for real estate at Gutnov’s expense, and were provided with security by the Austrian company Siwacht.
At first glance, everything seems to be perfect, life and the fraudulent business are established, and security is provided. However, in Austria and the UAE, the Gutnov-Kopenkin criminal tandem is already under threat from law enforcement agencies. That is why, now, in an operational mode, they are preparing to obtain visas and move the criminals to Canada on the basis of another ‘business plan’ (executor: S. Solovykh), which is essentially a plan for another fraud, but this time overseas…
To be continued…
