START: Andrey Shtafinsky – a dossier on the insurance market's chief "washer." Part 1
Andrey Shtafinsky – the scams and connections of the insurance market's top schemer. PART 2
In the second part of our journalistic investigation about the main "washer" of the Ukrainian insurance market, Andriy Shtafinsky, we will tell about the schemes and connections with which he has been conducting his illegal activities for several years, writes telegraph.
Berlin Viktor Mikhailovich
Viktor Mikhailovich Berlin is a partner, close friend, and, one might say, mentor of Andrey Shtafinsky. At one time, thanks to Viktor Berlin, Andrey Mikhailovich joined the Dominanta insurance company, where he began laundering and embezzling funds from the company. Following Shtafinsky's vigorous activity, in 2018, law enforcement opened criminal case No. 42018100000000850 for aiding and abetting large-scale tax evasion involving Dominanta LLC, with Shtafinsky as the prime suspect. However, an interesting detail escaped the attention of law enforcement: the beneficial owner of Dominanta LLC was none other than Viktor Berlin, and all the fraud took place with his knowledge. His connections within the inner circle of fugitive President Viktor Yanukovych helped him escape unscathed. Berlin currently holds the post of CEO of Guardian Insurance Company.
Kim Galina Grigorievna
Galina Grigorievna Kim previously worked as chief accountant at Dominanta Insurance Company. According to conservative estimates, she managed to withdraw over 20 million hryvnias into her accounts during her tenure. She then moved to USI Insurance Company, taking the position of chairperson, where she amassed another 50 million hryvnias while working under an 87% interest rate in the international travel insurance market. Galina Grigorievna manages two cash registers—one on the books and one on the back. The latter accounts for a quarter, perhaps even a fifth, of all revenue. The rest goes unchecked, and the company's shareholders aren't always aware of the true amount. Galina Grigorievna is involved in a number of projects with Andrey Shtafinsky, which we will discuss in detail in the next part of our journalistic investigation.
Yuri Yavtushenko
Yuriy Yavtushenko is a close friend and longtime partner of Andrey Shtafinsky in financial scams. Yavtushenko is known in the insurance market as a "scavenger"—he picks on insurance companies with financial problems. When these problems don't exist, but there are attractive assets, problems are artificially created. The assistance company Finance-Line LLC constantly monitors all small Ukrainian insurance companies. As soon as it spots a suitable victim, it immediately notifies the Ukrainian Insurance Ombudsman, a public organization. The Ombudsman first gathers all "dissatisfied" clients of the insurance company and files complaints with the relevant authorities: the courts and, for example, the MTIBU, if the issue concerns payments for car insurance claims. If there are a sufficient number of complaints, the MTIBU issues fewer insurance forms, while the prosecutor's office and the courts harass owners. And then Finance-Line reappears, offering to pay insureds their "debts" for insurance claims at 30% of their value, allegedly because their insurance company is on its last legs. Yuriy Yavtushenko, acting as a benefactor, approaches the owner and offers to buy the company. In June 2017, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) raided the offices of Salamandra-Ukraine, an insurance company owned by Yavtushenko. According to the SBU, law enforcement officers uncovered and dismantled a large-scale financial scheme involving fictitious risk insurance, in which Yuriy Yavtushenko was involved. The SBU believes that almost 4,5 billion hryvnias were laundered this way.
Yuriy Yavtushenko was also involved in several criminal cases. One case (opened by the Pechersk District Department, No. 12013110060004593) concerned fraudulent actions by officials of the Ukrainian Ecological Insurance Company (UECS) and Marx.Capital, who were suspected of driving UECS into bankruptcy. A case opened by the Shevchenko District Department (No. 42013110000000266) concerned illegal actions by officials of Lafort Insurance Company. The Podolsk District Department opened case No. 12013110070004460 regarding misappropriation of property and abuse of office against officials of Dobrobut Insurance Company.
Vyacheslav Chernyakhovsky
Vyacheslav Chernyakhovsky is a partner of Andrey Shtafinsky and the head of the Association of Insurance Business of Ukraine. Chernyakhovsky makes a living by diverting (or simply stealing) contributions from insurance companies that are members of the association he heads for personal use. He also works as a fixer in the insurance market. With inside information, he often commissions dirty PR campaigns targeting competitors.
For Andrey Shtafinsky, Chernyakhovsky helps resolve MTIBU issues: issuing forms when there are outstanding deductions to MTIBU funds, covering up the real state of affairs at the insurance company "USS" controlled by Shtafinsky (the MTIBU traffic light was painted white for a long time until the situation at "USS" was resolved).
Andrey Shtafinsky, along with Vyacheslav Chernyakhovsky and the head of the League of Insurance Organizations, Alexander Filonyuk, launched the project and signed documents establishing an SRO—the "Self-Regulatory Organization of the Insurance Business of Ukraine," which, according to their plan, is supposed to collect money from the market.
Fedor Shevchenko is a small-time financial swindler who has repeatedly come under the scrutiny of law enforcement. He operates more than Andrey Shtafinsky and others like him. Shevchenko cashes out funds through electronic money (a GlobalMoney payment system agent) using the company MoneyPay LLC. This company is used to load large amounts of cash, which are then distributed among a stack of passports.
Ernest Kadyrov. A close friend and neighbor of Andrey Shtafinsky. He serves as head of the supervisory board of Shtafinsky's insurance company, USS. Ernest Kadyrov is responsible for organizing global international reinsurance schemes, with the return of these funds to Ukraine at a percentage of turnover.
Oleksandr Melnychuk, a former business partner in the USS Investigative Committee, controlled by Shtafinsky, served as head of the Investigative Committee's supervisory board and, in effect, as the company's unofficial director. He was aware of and participated in all financial transactions conducted by the USS Investigative Committee. Melnychuk left the USS Investigative Committee in 2020 following a personal conflict with Andriy Shtafinsky. Since then, Shtafinsky has been actively seeking revenge against Melnychuk by ordering the falsification of criminal cases against his former partner through his godfather, Dmytro Kovalenko, deputy head of the SBU's First Directorate for Banking Sector Supervision.
Yevhen Anatolyevich Muntyan is the Deputy Chairman of the Board of Globus Bank, a defendant in high-profile criminal cases, and recently the acting Chairman of the Board of Ukrainian Insurance Standard, a company controlled by Shtafinsky, his close friend and drinking buddy. He oversees some of the company's operational activities, but his main job is to inform on Shtafinsky about everything and everyone.
In the first part of our journalistic investigation Andrey Shtafinsky – The Dossier of the Insurance Market's Chief "Cleaner." Part 1 We promised to tell you about another partner of Andriy Shtafinsky—a former banker with a dubious reputation, once close to fugitive President Viktor Yanukovych, and facing criminal charges for banditry and corporate raiding. This is the notorious Dmitry Fedoseyev, who began his career in the 90s in an organized crime group and later transitioned to banking. In this context, it's worth recalling Profin Bank PJSC, which was plundered by Fedoseyev and his accomplices. A brief press release from the National Bank stated that Profin's collapse was due to its "risky activities," which, according to law enforcement, involved fraud and money laundering. Today, Dmitry Fedoseyev handles reserve, banking, and other specific matters in Ukraine and abroad, acting, among other things, on behalf of Andriy Shtafinsky.
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