Alexander Shepelev
More than a year has passed since the scandalous arrest of former MP and banker Oleksandr Shepelev, accused of a dozen crimes, including involvement in several murders and participation in the embezzlement of funds from Rodovid Bank. More than a year has passed since Shepelev threatened to tell investigators and the public about the involvement of leading Ukrainian politicians and businessmen in massive financial fraud. Among the names he mentioned were Yulia Tymoshenko , Oleksandr Turchynov, and even Petro Poroshenko. But why has Shepelev remained silent, and when will his trial begin?
The father had three daughters
Alexander Alexandrovich Shepelev was born on July 4, 1970, in Horlivka. Almost nothing is known about his childhood, and his early years are shrouded in various rumors. For example, some Skelet.Org sources claimed that Alexander Shepelev previously had a completely different first and last name. These claims are apparently based on information (unverified) about his possession of an American passport in the name of Solomon Friedenthal (his wife's maiden name). Previously, this information could have been dismissed as mere rumor, but after Shepelev's scandalous arrest, when an ID card in the name of Nikolai Borukh was found in his pockets, it became clear that this man is no stranger to living under several names—and who knows which one is real! In fact, Shepelev holds several passports, including a Canadian one, which is reliably known.
Shepelev grew up in a far from ordinary family. He never revealed the identity of his biological father or what happened to him (whether he died or divorced), but his stepfather was later Vladimir Vasilyevich Kuznetsov, who rose to the position of head of the Donetsk OBKhSS by the late 80s. One piece of evidence of their "kinship" is their shared registration: Vladimir Kuznetsov, his wife, Neolina Vasilyevna Kuznetsova, and his stepson, Alexander Shepelev, were all registered in Donetsk at the same address—Pushkin Street 29-13.
As you can imagine, the position of head of the OBKhSS (Department for Combating the Embezzlement of Socialist Property) offered a wealth of prospects back then. But Vladimir Kuznetsov was also well-off in the 90s, having become head of the regional UBOP. So he had extensive connections among both the "Starodonetsk" (those from the Soviet elite) and the "Novodonetsk" (for example, Akhmetov's gang). One might assume that Kuznetsov was an honest cop, living on his salary alone and mercilessly fighting thieves, but the facts speak otherwise. The fact is that one of the Kuznetsov family's "friends" was Mikhail Fridental, one of the heads of the Donetsk consumer cooperative and also a well-known "workshop worker" and "schemer" in the region. It was thanks to Kuznetsov that Fridental didn't go to jail in the 80s and was spared from gangster attacks in the early 90s. But once Kuznetsov's life was over and he was forced into retirement in the mid-90s, Friedenthal curtailed his activities and emigrated to the United States. However, not before marrying off his three daughters.
One daughter, Galina Mikhailovna (born 1972), married our hero, Alexander Shepelev. This is how he later obtained American citizenship (helped by his father-in-law) and a passport in the name of Solomon Friedenthal. Another daughter, Irina Mikhailovna, married Yuri Star and moved with him and her father to America, where she divorced a few years later and returned to Ukraine, marrying Alexander Rybak, the son of Vladimir Rybak (Mayor of Donetsk from 1993 to 2002, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada from 2012 to 2014). He was also well known as Rybak Jr. and "Sasha Dynamite" due to his explosive and scandalous personality. Friedenthal's third daughter is a mysterious figure in every way; even her name is somehow kept secret. This gave rise to much speculation, including that she was the wife of Pavel Borulko , another "legendary" financial schemer from Donetsk. Borulko himself went to great lengths to conceal his wife's identity, leading to rumors that he was married to either the niece of prosecutor Alexander Medvedko , a relative of the Kuzmin prosecutors , or the third daughter of Mikhail Fridental.
First Blood and Escape to America
After graduating from school and dodging military service, Alexander Shepelev enrolled at the Donetsk Polytechnic Institute, where his professor was Alexander Gafarovich Makhmudov. Perestroika turned Makhmudov's head, and he became involved in both business and politics. Ultimately, in 1990, he was elected to the Donetsk City Council, becoming its head a month later—thus becoming the mayor of Donetsk. However, during the State Emergency Committee (August 1991), Makhmudov apparently took the wrong stance, and in the fall of 1991, he was dismissed. He tried for a long time to regain his position through the courts, but to no avail. However, in addition to litigation, Makhmudov used his influence to create the investment company DIKOM (EDRPOU 1349008), whose director was Irina Zarya (one of Makhmudov's former students). It was at this DIKOM that Alexander Shepelev began his career.
Alexander Makhmudov (in glasses) with deputies of the Donetsk City Council
In 1992, DIKOM received a securities trading license and actively engaged in financial pyramid schemes. It then launched voucher privatization schemes, urging Ukrainians to entrust it with their certificates. At first glance, this seemed fair game: others were simply buying up certificates for pennies, while DIKOM accepted them in exchange for its own shares, promising generous dividends. Over the course of a couple of years, DIKOM amassed approximately 600 certificates in the Donbas, Kharkiv, and Dnipropetrovsk regions, using them to privatize highly promising enterprises: Azovstal, the Ilyich Iron and Steel Works, the Nord Plant, the Khartsyzsk Silur, and others. However, ordinary shareholders who entrusted DIKOM with their certificates ultimately received dividends of... 10 kopecks! How could this be? It was simple: some enterprises privatized by DIKOM reported meager income or even losses, while others were resold (effectively given away) to newly minted Donetsk oligarchs. Essentially, DIKOM was a structure used for privatization and redistribution of property, which was successively used by several groups for their own purposes.
The first were its founders and the man behind them, Igor Romanovich Markulov (formerly Dagestani Ibragim Ramazanovich Merkulov), founder of the Aton corporation and friend of Leonid Kuchma (he was his advisor). It was thanks to this cover that DIKOM actually took off. Markulov was also a friend of Nurulislam Arkallaev, a master of sports and president of the Donetsk Judo Federation, also known as a crime boss nicknamed "Nurik." Since 1992, entrepreneur Yevhen Shcherban has joined Markulov as a business partner. And let's not forget American businessman Paul Tatum, who helped Markulov secure a $50 million loan from American banks, guaranteed by the Ukrainian government (Kuchma helped them secure this). The loan, incidentally, was never repaid.
Igor Markulov (left) and Nurulislam Arkallaev
So, Markulov with his "Aton," Makhmudov with "DIK," Yevgeny Shcherban and Paul Taytum (both killed in 1996), who took on the Arkallaev organized crime group's protection, let's not forget Mikhail Fridental, and add to this the "cop protection" of Kuznetsov, head of the UBOP—such a clan formed in Donetsk in the early 90s. Aleksandr Shepelev, as Kuznetsov's stepson and Fridental's son-in-law, was also a de facto member. This clan had great ambitions: for example, they immediately set their sights on seizing Azovstal, which greatly displeased future oligarch Sergei Taruta, who was working there at the time. Perhaps this is precisely why Taruta sided with the Industrial Union of Donbass (IUD), founded by Vitaly Gaiduk and controlled by Akhmetov.
And then the high-profile murders began. When Yevhen Shcherban was shot in Donetsk and Paul Tatum in Moscow, the Markulov-Makhumudov clan had already suffered defeat in the war against the Oktyabrsky organized crime group (the Bragin-Akhmetov group). Arkallaev befriended Rinat Leonidovich, and then Viktor Baloha , the "master of Transcarpathia," establishing a shadowy alcohol business with them . Kuznetsov retired—essentially getting off easy. When the going got tough, Markulov and Friedenthal immediately packed up for America—and, according to some Skelet.Org sources , Alexander Shepelev and his young wife, Galya, went with them. This explains his holding both Canadian and US citizenship. However, he didn't stay there long and returned home to loyally serve the new masters of Donetsk.
Shepelev's house in Canada
But it wasn't just a simple DIKOM accountant who fled to America. For example, during the 2006 elections, curious information surfaced in the Ukrainian media that the young Oleksandr Shepelev (who had bought himself a spot on the BYuT list at the time) had been moonlighting in the early 90s as something close to racketeering. However, sources clarified that it was more likely that the young and energetic Shepelev had simply been involved in a couple of "showdowns," where he had arrived either with his stepfather's men or with Arkallaev's men. He really wanted to feel like a "big shot"! But the information that Shepelev oversaw conversion centers under the auspices of DIKOM is quite serious.
It was also reported that during one such conversion of a very large sum, Shepelev allegedly decided to "scam" clients who turned out to be connected to the Bragin-Akhmetov organized crime group. For this, Shepelev remained "indebted" to Akhmetov until his death—and the need to repay this debt subsequently forced him to work for him. However, this may be a tale, but the reason Shepelev, like other members of his defeated clan, were forced to cooperate with Akhmetov is simple and prosaic: having defeated his opponents, Rinat Leonidovich then graciously forgave those who "repented" to them.
But these weren't the most serious sins of the young Shepelev. We're talking about two criminal cases, No. 12012000000000455 and No. 12012000000000454, opened in 2012 in connection with the murders of businessman Yuli Lashin (born in 1995) and his unofficial wife, Natalia Polikarpova (born in 1997). In both, Shepelev was named as a possible mastermind. The fact is, Lashin was the founder and owner of Doncreditinvest Bank (now KGS Bank), and after the murder, control of the bank somehow passed to Shepelev and his wife's family. And when Polikarpov's widow began testifying in Lashin's case, specifically about his relationship with Shepelev, she too was murdered. And now, after the death of the key witness, Shepelev has reappeared in Donetsk.
Sergey Varis, for Skelet.Org
CONTINUED: Alexander Shepelev: Batkivshchyna's Bloody Banker. PART 2
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