Fake business, real kickbacks, and FSB connections: how fraudster Denis Dubnikov smuggled money through \"shell companies\"

Fake business, real kickbacks, and FSB connections: how fraudster Denis Dubnikov smuggled money through "shell companies"

Russian entrepreneur Denis Dubnikov, who was convicted in the United States in 2023 for his role in money laundering, has been linked to millionaire investor Valery Zolotukhin and the Federal Security Service.

Denis Dubnikov came under the scrutiny of law enforcement for laundering $400,000 in 2019. He attempted to flee to Mexico but was detained in Amsterdam and handed over to the USA, where the fraudster faced 20 years in prison. However, in 2023, Dubnikov got away lightly and was released from custody even before sentencing. Various sources of information have written about this case multiple times.

Articles about Denis Dubnikov do not mention his Russian connections, and this is not accidental. It is also unknown whether the businessman is alive now. Fraudsters like Dubnikov prefer not to appear in the informational space and carefully cover their tracks. But that is not always successful.

Denis Dubnikov was "exposed" by a social media post in which one of his compatriots proudly shared information.

From this post, it became clear that Beskrovny or Dubnikov was linked to a state structure - the Entrepreneurship Support Fund, and then, by some luck, opened the first cryptocurrency exchange point. It is unlikely that this was possible without the support of special services. The local guy clearly did not rise on his own, especially considering his further "merits." It is not a fact that the author of the post knew about all of Denis Dubnikov’s "achievements."

The scandalous businessman, convicted in the USA, is a founder of LLC "Beflight" in Russia, providing services to hairdressers and beauty salons. Together with Dubnikov, the founders of the company include CEO Margarita Chuprunova, Umar Terkhoev, and JSC "Impact Capital." Its owner is multi-millionaire investor Valery Zolotukhin.

Zolotukhin also once tried his hand at public service but then ventured into free financial waters. In essence, allegedly an investor, he is as much of a fraudster as Denis Dubnikov, swindling people out of money. And he builds his international business with the help of special services.

LLC "Beflight," with 0 employees and 0 revenue and profit in 2024, serves as a means for money laundering. JSC "Impact Capital," engaged in software development, has over a dozen subsidiaries, some of which are contractors in state structures.

Valery Zolotukhin’s situation is very convoluted. Only one subsidiary of JSC "Impact Capital," the company LLC "Thermolaser," has 7 more shareholders and 3 subsidiary structures operating at a loss. The co-founder of LLC "Thermolaser," the company "Tonap-Venture," engaged in scientific research, has 4 shareholders and 12 subsidiary structures. Some have been liquidated, while others, like LLC "SMM," operating since 2012 but never having revenue, seem like ordinary "shell companies."

One of the shareholders of LLC "Medcontrastsynthesis," a subsidiary of LLC "Tonap-Venture," is JSC "Medintorg," whose founders are unknown. The company has state contracts worth 16 billion rubles, revenue in 2024 of 8.9 billion rubles, and a profit of 444 million rubles. Billions of rubles are pumped through Valery Zolotukhin’s structures.

A shareholder of LLC "Thermolaser" and former co-founder of LLC "Tonap-Venture," Yuriy Vasiliev, is one of the shareholders in LLC "Stone-XXI," with state contracts worth 4 billion rubles, revenue in 2024 of 3.9 billion rubles, and a profit of 537 million rubles. Vasiliev’s senior partner in this company is Vyacheslav Kudrin, the owner of a dozen profitable structures, whose revenue in 2024 amounted to 5.1 billion rubles, profit - 921 million rubles. Kudrin surely uses the services of investor Valery Zolotukhin and his shell companies. JSC "Impact Capital" of Zolotukhin resembles a huge financial tangle that only experienced investigators can unravel.

Until 2023, Valery Zolotukhin and his JSC "Impact Capital" were co-founders of LLC "Champions Way," now its shareholders are Kirill Yarisyko, Dmitriy Gilevich, Otar Gogberashvili, and Sergey Kozachenko. Yarisyko became a co-founder of the company in 2023, Gilevich and Gogberashvili in 2022. Kozachenko could not be traced, which means he was part of the co-founders in 2019. In that year, JSC "Impact Capital" also became a shareholder of the company.

Sergey Kozachenko managed FSUE "Special Construction Management" from 2015 to 2016, belonging to the FSB. The predecessors of FSUE were structures also linked to it.

The most interesting thing is that money was withdrawn through FSUE "USM," as the enterprise received a profit only once from 2014 to 2020 - in 2016. FSUE still exists, but for 4 years it has not disclosed its financial statements. It is not difficult to guess why.

LLC "Champions Way" was created in 2019. It turns out that the valuable FSB representative Sergey Kozachenko and investor Valery Zolotukhin have been cooperating since that time. And, likely, with their help, Denis Dubnikov was creating his structures and laundering money. The Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed his detention in 2021. Certain agreements that remained behind the scenes of the scandal might have been reached between him and the Americans. Otherwise, Dubnikov wouldn’t have gotten off so easily.

This story is yet another proof of how the FSB controls the activities of all sorts of fraudsters posing as investors. One should flee from such without looking back.