Ilya and Vadim Segal: Will the Nadra Bank thieves return to Ukraine? Part 1
For many Ukrainians, the 2008 economic crisis is still associated with the financial collapse of Nadra Bank. Its owners and managers, sitting on their suitcases, orchestrated unprecedented scams, cheating their depositors out of hundreds of millions and the state out of billions of hryvnias. At the center of these fraudulent and corrupt schemes were the bank's shadow owners—the virtually unknown Segal brothers, who fled Ukraine immediately after these events.
More than eight years have passed since then, but none of the perpetrators have been held accountable. Moreover, no one has spoken about Segal's involvement in the collapse of Nadra and the siphoning off of billions of hryvnias in loans. Someone still in power benefits from this story being forgotten forever. After all, as Skelet.Org has learned , the then owners of Nadra Bank siphoned off billions of hryvnias from the budget, not without the involvement of senior government officials.
The Segal brothers. Under Mogilevich's protection
Twin brothers Ilya Samuilovich Vadim Samuilovich Segal were born on June 12, 1961, in Semipalatinsk (Semey since 2007) to a family of doctors. Dictionaries indicate that the surname Segal is of ancient Hebrew origin and means "Levite assistant" (Sgan Levi is Hebrew), and Levites, as is well known, were a kind of hereditary aristocracy. Furthermore, in Ukraine and the United States, this surname is often transformed into Segal, which has caused confusion: in some documents, the brothers bear the masculine surname Segal, while in others, especially in their American passports, they are listed as Segal (neuter), with the endings of their surnames changing accordingly. To avoid confusion, we will refer to the brothers' surname in its original form—Segal.
Segal Sr. kept his distinguished origins under wraps, even "Ukrainizing" his name—which is why his sons were listed as "Samoylovichs" (another source of confusion) on their birth certificates and their first Soviet passports. Soon, the family moved to Kherson (according to some sources, they returned to their homeland), and then to Kyiv, where Ilya and Vadim graduated from high school and then went on to various universities (Vadim to the Moscow Institute of Chemical Technology). It's worth noting that Ilya Segal's family still lists two old residences in Kyiv: a far from elite apartment in a Brezhnev-era building on Suvorov Street 11 and a private house "slated for demolition" on Planernaya Street, the purpose of which is unknown. Perhaps they are somehow connected to the brothers' past in the 80s.
In 1989, the Segals finally decided to take advantage of their origins and leave the USSR, not for Israel, but for the United States. Apparently, it was New York, as in the New World they quickly fell under the influence of the émigré "Russian mafia," specifically the notorious Semyon Mogilevich. This is evidenced by a letter (see photocopy) from Vladimir Sheremeta, First Deputy Head of the SBU's Department for Combating Corruption and Organized Crime (a man very close to General Radchenko), dated November 21, 1997, in which he wrote the following about the Segal brothers:
Ilya and Vadim Segal: Will the Nadra Bank thieves return to Ukraine? Part 1
It's worth noting that, in addition to Semyon Mogilevich and the Konstantinovsky brothers , as well as well-known organized crime leaders like Oleg Asmakov (Alik Magadan), Viktor Topolov , one of the founders of Kyiv-Donbass, was directly involved in the structures of Kyiv-Donbass CJSC . In fact, Kyiv-Donbass can be considered a joint venture between the Ukrainian-Russian-American mafia (Mogilevich, Asmakov) and the Donbas coal schemes (Topolov). It was Kyiv-Donbass that founded Nadra Bank in 1993.
Photocopy of V. Sheremet's letter
Of particular interest is the role played by the holding's first president, Mikhail Grinshpon , in the creation of Kyiv-Donbass and Nadra Bank . Grinshpon, a man closely associated with both Donetsk gangsters (Alik Grek's organized crime group) and Kyiv officials in the 90s, was close to both Kuzmuk and his former Defense Minister (1996-2001). He was involved in arms trafficking (together with Defense Ministry official Anatoly Dovgopoly), cigarette smuggling through military airfields, and the embezzlement of military property, including real estate (buildings, airfields, military bases and training grounds, military camps, etc.). Grinshpon is also said to be the patron of Valeriy Heletey and Kyiv's "UBOP mafia." In particular, Grinshpon's Lawrence Group LLC was the founder of the "Ukrainian Organized Crime and Corruption" bank "Avant," which was reportedly created with funds from the murdered Kyiv crime boss "Pryshch." However, for public recognition, Grinshpon maintained a positive image as the "Ukrainian Korolev": from 2003 onward, he established himself at the State Space Agency of Ukraine (until 2014), hatching numerous projects for "space breakthroughs for Ukraine," but ultimately merely swindled budget funds.
Mikhail Grishpon
But all this happened years later, and meanwhile, between 1990 and 93, in faraway New York, the Segal brothers entered Semyon Mogilevich's inner circle of trusted confidants. How—even Lenya Roytman, who in his revealing interviews has revealed many fascinating criminal details about the former mafia lives of many current politicians and businessmen, doesn't know. The Segal brothers are generally extremely little-known figures; after their escape in 2008, they erased almost all information about themselves, including all photographs—except for one miraculously preserved one, depicting Ilya Samuilovich.
Ilya Segal, the only photo
However, it is known that in 1992 or 1993, Ilya Segal arrived in Russia, where he became head of Delta Bank, the financial arm of the Russian-American enterprise SAP. Founded in 1990, it traded oil and petroleum products and was part of Mogilevich's business, and was headed by Igor Linshits. In 1993, the enterprise was transformed into the Oil Trading House, and Delta Bank was also renamed "Neftyanoy"—and Ilya Segal continued to manage it until 1996. As for his brother Vadim, there is information that in the first half of the 90s, he headed Moscow's Petroff Bank, which was also linked to Mogilevich and the Solntsevskaya organized crime group (a prominent figure in Russian power is Alexander Babakov, former speaker of the State Duma and owner of the Premier Palace, where former State Duma deputy Voronenkov lived and was murdered on his way out). It was at Petroff Bank that Mogilevich devised a scheme to bury criminal capital, which he then applied to his other banks and companies, including Nadra Bank. Specifically, he sold Petroff Bank to his trusted associates, the Segal brothers. They, in turn, created a scheme involving several mutually owned companies, through which the brothers, without public exposure, owned and managed the bank through their own managers.
UPDATED: Skelet.Org readers submitted a photo of Vadim Segal:
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- Photo from the exhibition of Odessa Karavai - 2002 Exhibition
In 1997, Nadra Bank changed hands using the same scheme. It all began with a split and division of the Ukrainian business (Kyiv-Donbass Holding) between Mogilevich and Asmakov (Magadan). Ultimately, Kyiv-Donbass and its main assets remained with Magadan, while Nadra Bank went to Mogilevich, and this division was formalized by the sale of the bank to the Segal brothers, who were transferred from Moscow to Kyiv specifically for this purpose. Incidentally, they arrived in Ukraine using their American passports, which they had obtained while still in exile (the document numbers are listed in Sheremet's letter). However, in 2000-2001, they received new US passports (American passports are valid for 10 years, after which they are exchanged for a new one), remaining US citizens. It was these new passports that figured in the brothers' scandalous scams of 2004 and 2008. However, there is no publicly available information about the Segal brothers obtaining Russian or Ukrainian citizenship – although obtaining a Ukrainian passport would not have been a problem for them, given how generously they were distributed to Americans and Israelis of Ukrainian descent in the 90s.
Bank of scammers
Along with the Segal brothers , Igor Gilenko , their trusted confidant and partner from the Neftyanoy Bank, arrived in Ukraine from Moscow. He had just graduated from the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics's Management Training Center in 1995, specializing in commercial bank currency and financial operations. While it was reported that the Segal brothers handpicked their inner circle of trusted individuals, Gilenko wasn't found "on the street" but rather recruited from among the Moscow managers of Mogilevich's organized crime group. According to other sources, Gilenko may have been a protégé of corrupt Moscow security officials (the Ministry of Defense, the FSB, and the Ministry of Emergency Situations), who participated in Mogilevich's schemes and planted their own moles in them. One of Skelet.Org's sources reported that Gilenko, upon arriving in Kyiv, immediately assembled a management team of former KGB-SBU officers who had previously worked on corrupt oil schemes with their Russian counterparts. Thus, rumors that the "father" of this entire mafia-corruption family, Mogilevich, worked for the KGB-FSB and had good business connections with the SBU are not without foundation.
Igor Gilenko
Gilenko was immediately appointed director and chairman of the board of the Segal brothers' Nadra Bank—and through him, they carried out all their schemes, all the while remaining behind the scenes. This secrecy long puzzled and remained unexplained: even though the Segals were previously known in Moscow as "Mogilevich's bankers," many businessmen and officials who later didn't hide in the shadows worked with this international mafia (and even engaged in criminal activity) . This suggested that the Segals might have been involved in some truly nefarious dealings. However, after 2008, many agreed that it wasn't the publicity and secrecy of the Segals that allowed them to commit fraud and evade responsibility, only to surface later elsewhere.
In 1997, the veteran (in all respects) and seasoned manager Kostiantyn Masik became chairman of the supervisory board of Nadra Bank. From 1989 to 92, he served as first deputy head of the government of the Ukrainian SSR and vice prime minister of independent Ukraine. He then spent five years in "honorable exile" (as ambassador to Finland), after which he was invited to join Nadra (one can only speculate about his connections and connections with Mogilevich's people). Masik's main asset in his new position was his numerous connections within the former Soviet nomenklatura: in particular, he had long been close to Oleksandr Omelchenko, then mayor of Kyiv.
Konstantin Masik
Skelet.Org sources reported that Masik provided Nadra Bank with high-level government protection—at least until his old acquaintance Omelchenko retired in 2006 after losing the election to Leonid Chernovetsky . Masik's connections also came in handy in 1999: after a massive purchase of privatization certificates and cunning manipulations with them, Nadra fell under sanctions from the Tax Service: a criminal case was opened, and the bank was assessed 800 million hryvnias in fines and arrears. But with Masik's help, the issue was resolved, and the case was pinned on... the senior cashier of the bank's Makeyevka branch.
Konstantin Masik in the government box of the Verkhovna Rada, 1991
In the background is MP Leonid Kuchma
In 2003, the bank's assets were "hidden." A controlling stake was transferred to the offshore company "Universal Advisory Capital Limited," whose directors included Ilya and Vadim Segal, Igor Gilenko, and Vadim Pyatov (who, when the attack on the bank began, became the main responsible party and negotiator, while Gilenko acted like an ostrich—"hiding his head in the sand"). Interestingly, Pyatov, who also avoided publicity at all costs, was also the general director of Agrokom-Ukraine and the owner of Odesa Karavai OJSC. In 2008, he was named one of the richest people in Ukraine, with a net worth of $345 million. The role of this highly enigmatic figure in the Nadra Bank case remains unknown to this day; it's not even clear what clan Pyatov belonged to or what connections he had.
Through a convoluted scheme, Igor Gilenko became the bank's formal majority owner—officially, he controlled 33,4% of the shares. However, numerous sources reported that Gilenko was merely a manager for the Segal brothers, who were the real owners and managers of Nadra Bank until their flight in 2008. Another 18,6% of the shares were controlled by Vadym Pyatov, whose role in these schemes, once again, remains a mystery.
So, these changes to the bank's ownership structure began simultaneously with the Segal brothers' first high-profile scam. In late 2002 and early 2003, Nadra entered into an agreement with the companies Ukrainian Metallurgical Company CJSC and Grand Plus LLC, both associated with UkrSibbank, owned by Kharkiv oligarch Alexander Yaroslavsky . The gist of the agreement was as follows: Yaroslavsky's companies would purchase a 26% stake in Nadra Bank, and in 2004, the bank would buy those shares back at a 40% premium. Thus, the Segal brothers were borrowing money from Yaroslavsky at 20% per annum, using their shares as collateral. The deal seemed perfectly legitimate, and Yaroslavsky had no idea he was being "ripped off like a complete sucker." What happened was this: in 2004, shortly before the agreed-upon deadline, the management of Nadra Bank (Gilenko and Masik), acting on the orders of the Segal brothers, issued additional shares, reducing Yaroslavsky's stake from 26% to 16%. Nadra then refused to buy back his shares at the agreed-upon premium.
According to Skelet.Org , Yaroslavsky began seeking justice and legitimacy at the State Securities and Stock Market Commission (SSMC), but they deemed Nadra's additional share issue legal. However, the SSC's operations at the time were thoroughly corrupt, with raiders like Andrey Portnov profiting from manipulating additional share issues . Yaroslavsky then attempted to blackmail Nadra's owners: using his connections, he persuaded the Kazakh bank TuranAlem not to provide Nadra with a $10 million syndicated loan. This failed: in 2005, Nadra received a $32 million loan from other banks, guaranteed by the American Eximbank. Here, the connections of Segalov and Mogilevich proved far more extensive and powerful than those of Yaroslavsky. As a result, Yaroslavsky sold his shares in Nadra to businessmen Sergei Lagur and Igor Eremeev, co-owners of the Continuum group.
Sergey Lagur
In 2006, Yeremeyev was Lytvyn's campaign manager , joined the ruling coalition in 2012, left it in February 2014, and later defected to Poroshenko. He was an active sponsor of the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO), and died in the summer of 2015, suffering a head injury while horseback riding. But that, too, was later. In 2005-2006, Yeremeyev and Lagur became not only partners with the Segal brothers but also their friends and even neighbors: they moved in together (on the sixth and seventh floors) of an apartment building on Artema Street (now Sichevykh Striltsiv Street). During this same period, Yeremeyev and Lagur increased their stake in Nadra to 33,7%.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Sergey Varis, for Skelet.Org
CONTINUED: Vadim and Ilya Segal: Will the Nadra Bank thieves return to Ukraine? Part 2
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