According to a source from the VChK-OGPU Telegram channel, Russian Oligarch Oleg Boyko’s primary asset in 2023 was LLC MKK Rusinterfinance (TIN 5408292849), which owns the eKapusta online loan service. This company generated a net profit of 9.3 billion rubles in 2023, twice the profit of Boyko’s second-largest asset, European 4finance, which earned 44 million euros in net profit for the year.
Story of Oleg BoykoSurprisingly, Oleg Boyko, who presents himself as a fintech guru, does not publicly acknowledge his ownership of this highly profitable company, keeping it hidden from the general public and seemingly from the Central Bank, which regulates the industry.
According to Rusinterfinance’s own website, the company is owned by the Cypriot offshore FERRYMILL LIMITED. This entity is 46% owned by four Russian citizens, the founders and managers of eKapusta, 5% by the Cypriot offshore DAURMIE LIMITED, owned by an Israeli citizen allegedly living in Serbia, Alexander Landau, and 49% by the Cypriot offshore Nakula Management Limited, registered in the name of Boyko’s mother, Vera Boyko.
Interestingly, Alexander Landau, supposedly residing in Belgrade, is an employee of the legal department of Finstar, the company managing Boyko’s assets. His email domain (landau@finstar.com) matches Boyko’s, indicating his involvement in Boyko’s activities, including introducing himself under various guises for Boyko’s “dirty” tasks. Despite his role, Landau’s job title is unusually listed as Business Development Consultant.
Fintech Guru or Gangland Ties? Unveiling the Mystery Behind Oleg Boyko
Why does Oleg Boyko conceal that he controls not just 49%, but a controlling stake in MCC Rusinterfinance and eKapusta? This secrecy suggests a possible violation of paragraph 5.1 of Article 4.2 of Federal Law No. 151 “On microfinance activities and microfinance organizations.” In 2019, the Central Bank initially issued an order regarding Boyko’s unsatisfactory business reputation but reversed its decision after Boyko’s persuasive “arguments.”
Business Biography of Oleg Boyko and his father Viktor Denisovich Boyko
In the early 1990s, Boyko and his father, Viktor Denisovich Boyko, who was the general director at the time, privatized NPO Vzlet. This organization, once a key enterprise of the Ministry of Radio Industry of the USSR, employed 5,000 people and conducted extensive research and development for military and civilian vessels, including projects for the Buran spacecraft and submarines.
The Boyko family, after gaining control, quickly dismantled its scientific and production potential, severely damaging the country’s defense capabilities. Boyko used the airfield, hangars, and planes of NPO Vzlet to import electronics from abroad, bypassing customs and using state-funded kerosene for airplanes, significantly profiting from the business.
In the early 2010s, after gambling was banned in Russia and failed attempts to revive the industry under the guise of lotteries, Boyko decided to sell the 40 hectares of land in the Moscow Solntsevo district, the only valuable asset left of NPO Vzlet, and liquidate the enterprise. However, selling the property complex required paying significant taxes, which Boyko sought to avoid.
Boyko’s management persuaded LSR, a developer interested in the land, to structure the transaction through offshore accounts to evade taxes. Despite LSR’s resistance, Boyko devised a scheme to evade taxes using a Closed Mutual Investment Fund, “Labyrinth,” created to buy the property at book value and resell it at market value. This approach allowed Boyko to avoid paying income tax and VAT, withdrawing profits tax-free to offshore accounts over the fund’s 15-year term.
SIAB Bank of Oleg Boyko
SIAB Bank has received a brokerage license and rebranded as Finstar Bank. Scandalous businessman Oleg Boyko, owner of Finstar Financial Group, acquired SIAB Bank in 2021, and by 2022, its management had changed. Gennady Salych became the chairman of the board, with Tatyana Deryugina as his deputy.
Salych led Ffin Bank LLC from 2015 to 2022, where Deryugina served as the chief accountant. The bank was part of Timur Turlov’s Freedom Holding Corp, a businessman often accused of being a fraudster and pyramid scheme creator.
In the summer, Turlov exited the capital of the holding’s Russian assets, prompting Ffin Bank to rebrand as Tsifra Bank and change its management. Freedom Finance Investment Company LLC also became Tsifra Broker LLC, led by Sergey Nosov. Experts believe the new owner, Maxim Povalishin, may be acting in Turlov’s interests.
After Turlov’s associates joined SIAB Bank, he established Finstar Capital Management Company to manage investment funds. The company is headed by Larisa Arbatova, who has a background in financial services management.
Upon acquiring SIAB Bank, Oleg Boyko announced plans to invest $50 million in it over three years, including funds from third-party investors. However, caution is advised given Boyko’s controversial reputation.
Boyko’s name is linked with oligarchs Alexander Mamut and Roman Abramovich, but he also has alleged ties to the Solntsevskaya organized crime group and figures like Sergei Mikhailov and international criminal Semyon Mogilevich. In the mid-90s, Boyko ended up in a wheelchair after a suspicious fall, possibly due to $10 million withdrawn from Russia for a London mansion, which was supposed to go to the crime group’s fund.
In 2008, Boyko, who had by then invested in the Rive Gauche perfume chain, reportedly sought revenge on Mogilevich. The VChK-OGPU Telegram channel reported the arrest of Vladimir Nekrasov, owner of the Arbat-Prestige network, and Mogilevich for tax evasion. Although the company went bankrupt in 2009, both suspects were released in 2011.
The parent company of Rive Gauche is now Aromalux LLC, with a 2022 revenue of 36 billion rubles and a profit of 323 million rubles. The company is owned by the Cyprus-based Rive Gauche Group Limited. Numerous liquidated cosmetics companies previously shared the same address as Aromolux LLC, many belonging to the offshore Bandonin Holdings LTD.
Boyko’s business operations are heavily tied to offshore companies. Finance Properties Ru LLC is owned by Wolf Investments Limited, while Constanta LLC is owned by Latapla Holdings Limited, which owns four more operating companies with no revenue or profit. The founders of Finstar Holding LLC include the Serbian company Digital Finance International and Finance Properties Ru LLC. Officially, Boyko owns no Russian assets, with SIAB Bank owned by the offshore-laden Finstar Financial Group.
It’s unsurprising that Boyko brought in Turlov’s associates, as both have similar business practices involving bank and financial entities offering comparable products and services. Turlov’s Freedom Holding Corp, headquartered in Kazakhstan, operates globally. Until 2022, Boyko’s family trust owned 4finance, a company issuing consumer loans in Europe.
Boyko remains confident in the Russian market, even suing a major government agency, Rosseti. In July, the Ninth Arbitration Court of Appeal ruled in favor of PJSC Bank SIAB, ordering the Federal Grid Company – ROSSETI to pay 40 million rubles.
Boyko has also ventured into various other businesses. In 2013, Finstar acquired a stake in the international media outlet FashionTV, enhancing Boyko’s reputation as a generous patron of escort models. He previously owned gaming assets and participated in film production, industries often associated with money laundering. With Boyko’s offshore network, such activities are easily managed.
SIAB Bank, now Finstar Bank, received a brokerage license from the Central Bank, allowing it to become a professional participant in the securities market. This indicates that, despite its offshore connections, Boyko’s business enjoys significant protection from the Russian government.